Definda Score™ |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The Definda Score is an impartial, objective analysis of platform features.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Staking Yields
2.3
|
Staking Yields
3.2
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loan Rates
2
|
Loan Rates
2
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Established
1.7
|
Established
6.5
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews
8
|
Reviews
8
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk Management
6
|
Risk Management
7
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawals
6
|
Withdrawals
2
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Coverage
2.1
|
Coverage
2.2
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Support
6
|
Support
5
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pros & Cons |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Simple, easy to use interface.
Competitive exchange rates.
Competitive interest rates for large deposits.
Clear ownership structure and regulatory status.
Run by strong, professional team.
No tiered savings rates. Rate applies to entire balance.
Unique AQRU Trend investment product
AQRU Ten makes it easy to diversify your crypto portfolio
Higher average review rating than Luno, but based on fewer reviews
(80% vs 78%)
Has email support but Luno doesn't
|
Easy to use mobile and web apps
Great for beginners
Strong support in a number of developing countries
Low exchange fees if you use the Luno exchange
Large, reputable business
More reviews than AQRU
(9,329 vs 11 reviews)
Been in business longer than AQRU
(Founded 2012 vs 2021)
Has less assets under management than AQRU
Quicker time to withdraw crypto than than AQRU
(1 hour vs 24 hours)
Has a slower withdrawal time than AQRU
(1 hour vs 24 hours)
Has independent proof of reserves but AQRU doesn't
Interface supports French, Italian and Indonesian whereas AQRU doesn't
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Staking Rates
AQRU has a higher base earnings rate for Bitcoin (BTC)
(< 0.01%% vs 1.50000%)
|
Staking Rates
Luno has a higher base earnings rate for USDC
(7.6%% vs 3.00000%)
Luno has a higher base earnings rate for Ethereum (ETH)
(2%% vs 2.00000%)
1 more stakings rates pro ...
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Institutional investors only. Min deposit $250,000 USD.
High $20 fee for crypto withdrawls.
Limited number of coins supported.
Loans not available.
Need to manually fund savings accounts rather all deposits automatically earning interest.
|
Need to manually transfer funds to savings account to start earning interest
No loans available (except for large instituions)
Savings interest rates are variable so it is hard to know how much you will actually earn
Transfers of crypto out of your savings wallet sometimes take 24 hours
Very limited number of savings account currencies
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawals |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal Time
24 hours
|
Withdrawal Time
1 hour
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal Score
6
|
Withdrawal Score
2
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawals Experience
Crypto withdrawls on AQRU are not instant. They are processed daily at 2pm UTC. This means that if you make a withdrawl request at 3pm UTC you will have to wait until 2pm UTC the next day before it is processed. Once withdrawl requests begin processed at 2pm UTC they normally seem to complete by 3pm UTC in our experience. If you have yoru funds invested in one of AQRU's investment products you will first need to withdraw your funds back in to your AQRU crypot wallet by selling the investment product. Only then can you make a withdrawl request to an external wallet. Crypto withdrawls also attract fees. There is a $10 USD fee for Bitcoin withdrawls and a $20 USD fee for all other crypto withdrawls. There is no fee for fiat withdrawls. There is no record of AQRU undertaking a blanket freeze of withdrawls across the platform. Some users have experienced delays in withdrawls as AQRU has been obliged to to ask further questions about the transfer to comply with its regulatory obligations. |
Withdrawals Experience
WARNING: Crypto withdrawals are severely restricted in Europe to a maximum of 500 euros per week. In order to make withdrawals from Luno you must first enable send mode on the app. Once you requested that this mode is enabled you will then need to wait 24 hours before the mode is enabled. Whilst this does provide extra security, it can be annoying if you want to withdraw the funds quickly and have not already enabled this mode. In our tests, withdrawals were processed quickly once "send mode" had been enabled. Withdrawal requests were processed by Luno within a few minutes of the request being made and funds were normally received in less than a hour. Luno does not charge withdrawal fees, however you do still have to pay the network fee to withdraw from the platform. This fee will be deducted form the amount that is sent. There is no record of Luno ever having frozen withdrawals. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk Management Score
6
|
Risk Management Score
7
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Risk Management
AQRU stores its uninvested crypto with a third party custodian, Fireblocks, which ensures that these funds are well protected against loss due to hacking and fraud. In addition AQRU has insurance of $30 million against crypto losses. AQRU has implemented two factor authentication within it's app to increase security levels. What remains unclear is AQRU's investment strategy that is uses to generate yield. AQRU launched with market leading interest rates on its savings accounts which suggests that a higher level of risk was being taken with its internal investment strategy. Having said this, AQRU has now significantly reduced its savings rates and AQRU has never frozen withdrawls or suffered any outage or loss of customer funds. AQRU have stated that they lend funds to institutions in return for yield. AQRU states that they usually demand collateralisation on thse loans. The level of collateralisation is not stated, and it is concerning if some of their loans are not fully collateralised. Ideally they would be requiring well over 100% over-collateralisation on all loans so that in all circumstances AQRU holds sufficient assets to repay the loan in the event of a default by the borrower. AQRU offers a blended stablecoin investment product. This product invests in USDC, DAI and some other stablecoins which are not stated. Diversifying the fund across a number of stablecoins reduces risk, but the lack of full transparancy means there could be some high risk coins included. AQRU offers enhanced savings ratings on USDC deposits when locked up for a 90 day term. This is through a deal with Maple Finance. AQRU provide a detailed run down of this deal here. The article discusses Maple Finance's risk management strategy, including the diversification and overcollateralisation of loans made by Maple. However, the managed underwriting of some loans is also discussed, which presumably adjusts collateral requirements depending on the credit status of the borrower. There is a separate fund that can be called upon in the case of borrower defaults. Overall AQRU and Maple are offering a good level of transparency on how their lending strategy works. However in the event of large number of depositors making withdrawal requests, it is possible that liquidity could still be an issue. Some crypto platforms can provide proof of reserves prepared by a third party. This proof of reserves proves that the platform holds more assets than customer liabilities. AQRU does not currently provide proof of reserves, but hopefully this is something that they will look to implement in the future. Overall, AQRU is a young platform backed by a solid, experienced team. They have a simple model and appear to be aiming for transparency. As the platform continues to grow we expect further reasurances on their investment strategy will be provided. |
Risk Management
Luno offers the usual security features to prevent unauthorised access to crypto assets. The majority of crypto assets are stored in cold storage, secured and insured by BitGo. A hot wallet is used to store working capital and this wallet is a three key multisignature wallet, meaning that more than one key is required to access the funds and each key is stored in a different, secure location. Two factor authentication is available within the Luno app to make access to your account more secure. Luno employs Mazars, an accountancy firm, to independently verify that the value of the crypto assets stored with Luno do actually exist. An example of the report can be found here. This audit is undertaken quarterly. It should be noted that the the audit verifies that the total value of the assets currently held by Luno exceeds the total value of customer liabilities (deposits). This demonstrates that any loans that Luno has made of depositor's funds have been overcollareralised (i.e. Luno has secured collateral of a greater value than the loan amount before granting the loan). The audit does not consider the liquidity of those collateral assets, meaning how easy it would be to sell those assets at market value if Luno was forced to sell them to cover a bad debt. In order to generate yield, Luno lends out funds via Genesis, the world's largest digital asset lender. The exact lending strategy used and types of loans issued is not clear, but some reassurance can be taken from that the all loans are granted through this provider and the Mazar's indpendent audit proves that Luno has overcollateralised its loans. Luno has embraced regulation and sought to preempt regulatory obligations by implementing some of the anticpiate policies before they were forced to do so. Luno are very careful to prevent unauthorised withdrawals. By default, withdrawals from your wallet are not enabled. You will need to manually enabled "send mode" to allow withdrawals, and as an additional security precaution, this takes 24 hours to be activated. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Reviews |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
User Reviews
|
User Reviews
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Expert Reviews
|
Expert Reviews
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Staking Rates |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The table below compares the staking rates for AQRU and Luno.
|
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loading rates ...
|
Loading rates ...
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Company |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Legal name
AQRU Plc
|
Legal name
Luno Pte. Ltd
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Year founded
2021
|
Year founded
2012
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Country incorporated in
42
|
Country incorporated in
206
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Headquarters country
1
|
Headquarters country
1
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Decentralised
No
|
Decentralised
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of employees
|
Number of employees
400
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Number of users
|
Number of users
8,000,000
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Total assets under management
$50,000,000USD
|
Total assets under management
$21,000,000,000USD
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal time in hours
24hours
|
Withdrawal time in hours
1hours
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Products |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Savings accounts
Yes
|
Savings accounts
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loans
No
|
Loans
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crypto to crypto exchange
Yes
|
Crypto to crypto exchange
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fiat to crypto exchange
Yes
|
Fiat to crypto exchange
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Pro exchange marketplace
No
|
Pro exchange marketplace
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Peer to peer exchange
No
|
Peer to peer exchange
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Margin trading
No
|
Margin trading
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Corporate accounts
Yes
|
Corporate accounts
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Instantly buy crypto with fiat
Yes
|
Instantly buy crypto with fiat
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Integrated crypto wallet
Yes
|
Integrated crypto wallet
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crypto withdrawals to private wallet
Yes
|
Crypto withdrawals to private wallet
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fast account verification
Yes
|
Fast account verification
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Futures exchange
No
|
Futures exchange
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Security |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Insurance level
$30,000,000USD
|
Insurance level
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cold storage
|
Cold storage
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Cold storage custodian
Fireblocks
|
Cold storage custodian
BitGo
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Two factor authentication
Yes
|
Two factor authentication
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Loan over collateralisation percent
Over 100% over-collateralisation
|
Loan over collateralisation percent
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Credit check
No
|
Credit check
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Support |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
24/7 support
No
|
24/7 support
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Email support
Yes
|
Email support
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Phone support
No
|
Phone support
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Chat support
Yes
|
Chat support
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fees |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Maker fee
|
Maker fee
0%
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Taker fee
|
Taker fee
0%
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Exchange fees
0.35% flat rate
|
Exchange fees
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fiat deposit fee
Free
|
Fiat deposit fee
Free
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fiat withdrawal fee
Free
|
Fiat withdrawal fee
Free
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crypto deposit fee
Free
|
Crypto deposit fee
Free
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal process
Withdrawls are processed every day at 2pm UTC. Any withdrawl request prior to this time will have to wait until 2pm UTC before it is processed. In our experience withdrawls are completed within an hour after 2pm.
|
Withdrawal process
You must enable "send mode" before withdrawals can be made. This mode takes 24 hours to activate. Once send mode is enabled withdrawals are processed quickly, normally within a few minutes.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Withdrawal time
24 hours
|
Withdrawal time
1 hours
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Crypto withdrawal fee
$10 for bitcoin and $20 for other cryptos
|
Crypto withdrawal fee
Varies according to current market
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Savings crypto account withdrawal limit
|
Savings crypto account withdrawal limit
$120,000 USD per day, £600,000 USD per month
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Fiat wallet withdrawal limit
|
Fiat wallet withdrawal limit
No limit for fully verified users
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Savings fiat account withdrawal limit
|
Savings fiat account withdrawal limit
No limit for fully verified users
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Investment Strategy |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
DeFi products
Yes
|
DeFi products
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Unsecured loans
|
Unsecured loans
No
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Independent proof of reserves
No
|
Independent proof of reserves
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Proof of reserves
|
Proof of reserves
Undertaken quarterly by Mazers
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Registrations & Regulation |
|||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Know your customer
Yes
|
Know your customer
Yes
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Regulators
Accru is registered as a Cryptoasset service provider with the Bulgarian National Revenue Agency. Accru has a pending application with the UK Financial Conduct Authority for approval as a crypto asset business
|
Regulators
Luno embraces regulation and has worked closely with regulators in its target countries in Africa and Asia.
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bulgarian National Revenue Agency
Yes
|
Bulgarian National Revenue Agency
|
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
|
We always rank and compare products objectively and impartially.
We carefully research products for legitimacy before adding them to the platform.
We never sell or disclose your data to anyone.