EARN UP TO 35% APY ON YOUR CRYPTO AND FIAT ASSETS. Earn passive income on your crypto assets by depositing them into a savings account and earning interest. Many accounts provide instant access to your funds and some offer loyalty programs that can increase your earning rate by investing in the platform's own token or by having your interest paid out in their token. Check out our table of DeFi savings rates below.

Important Message Definda does not provide any financial advice. All information is provided for research purposes only. DeFi is a rapidly evolving industry. Most businesses in the sector are very young and it is possible that some of them could go out of business in the future. Such an event could result in the loss of your investment. You should do your own research or consult a financial advisor before investing any money. Please read and satisfy yourself with our terms before continuing to use our website. We offer a free impartial comparison service of savings, loans and other DeFi products. We may receive a small commission from some of the companies listed, but this never influences our rankings. If you spot any errors in the information listed then please contact us at info@definda.com.

Not Sure Where to Start? Try Our Crypto Portfolio Optimiser

It can be difficult to know where to invest your money for the best possible return whilst also diversifying your portfolio so as to manage your risk. The DeFinda Crypto Portfolio Optimiser Advisor is an automatic tool that will use your investment preferences to develop an investment strategy that is bespoke to your requirements.

What Are Cryptocurrency Savings Accounts?

Cryptocurrency savings accounts are high yielding deposit accounts for cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin, Ethereum and Monero. The accounts are provided by a growing range of crypto platforms. It's as simple as depositing your funds on the platform and in return immediately starting to earn interest.

High interest rates of over 5% are available on many platforms. These are very attractive compared to the rates on offer in most traditional high street banks savings accounts of 1% or even less!

The platforms are able to offer these high rates as they use the funds to over collateralise loans that they also provide. The loans are provided at a higher rate than the savings rate and the platform makes a profit on the difference.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Crypto Savings Accounts

When to Use a Crypto Savings Account

Crypto savings accounts are a great way of earning passive income on your crypto assets. Many owners of crypto assets have their coins stored in private wallets and manage their own own private keys. Whilst this is an excellent way to secure your assets it does mean that your assets are not working as hard as they could be for you. Sure, the value of those crypto assets could go up, but you could also earn interest on those assets if you were to deposit some of them into an online savings account.

Many of the new crypto platforms offer excellent savings rates for your crypto assets and are very easy to use. Simply signup for an account, complete the Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks and then transfer your funds. The KYC and AML checks are automated on many platforms and can often be completed in just a few minutes by using your camera and ID document (passport, driving license etc.).

Once you deposit your funds in the platform's savings account you will immediately start earning interest. Interest is accrued daily on most platforms and many platforms also offer instant access to your funds.

Enhanced Rates For Stablecoins

Many platforms offer substantially higher rates for deposits in stablecoins such as Tether (USDT), USD Coin (USDC), Paxos Standard (PAX) and TrueUSD (TUSD). These stablecoins help provide liquidity to the platform as many loans are provided in stablecoins. In return for this additional liquidity the platform is willing to pay a higher savings rate. Savings rates of 10% or more for stablecoins are available on some platforms.

More Than Just Crypto

Did you know that you could earn 10% or more on your Dollars, Euros and Pounds? Whilst the savings accounts are focused on crypto, many platforms also offering very high yielding accounts on regular fiat currencies such as US Dollars (USD), Euros (EUR) and Pounds Sterling (GBP).

You don't even need to own any crypto currencies to benefit. Just sign up for an account on the platform, complete the KYC/AML checks and then transfer your fiat currency from your regular bank account to the platform using a normal bank transfer. If you complete the transfer using a regular bank transfer (e.g. SWIFT, SEPA) then most platforms will not charge any fees, however transfers via VISA or Mastercard normally attract a substantial handling fee so are best avoided.

Loyalty Schemes

Many platforms offer loyalty programmes that provide enhanced savings rates in return for buying or holding the platform's own house crypto currency. The increase in savings rates can be substantial, with up to 2% additional interest per year available at the top end of some of the loyalty programs.

In addition to enhanced savings rates for buying the platform's own cryptocurrency, some platforms also provide increased savings percentage rates if you are willing to accept your interest being paid out in the platform's own cryptocurrency rather than the currency you deposited. Many of these platforms are highly innovative companies that are operating within a very fast moving industry. There is certainly potential for the platform cryptocurrencies to increase substantially in value, although of course as always you should do your own research and make your own judgement on each platform.

Tax Considerations & Benefits

If you invested in crypto a few years ago then you may be sitting a substantial capital gain the value of your crypto assets. Having not sold the assets you have not yet triggered a capital gains tax event. Such an event would require a substantial proportion of your gain to be paid to the government in most jurisdictions.

Instead of selling your crypto assets you could invest them in a savings account and earn interest on them. The accrued interest would be subject to income tax in most jurisdictions, however you would still be realising some level of income from your crypto assets with being forced to sell them. As such you can still benefit from any potential future increase in the value of those crypto assets.

Please note that tax is an extremely complex subject with a wide range of different structures depending on the country you are tax resident in. We are in no way providing tax advice and you should always seek independent professional expert tax advice about your own specific situation.

How to Find the Best Crypto Savings Account

Comparing crypto savings accounts can be a little tricky. Each platform has a multitude of different savings rates available which vary according to the type of currency deposited, the type of currency your interest is paid in, your loyalty level and how long you deposit the money for. Platforms also express their savings rates in different formats, with some quoting Annual Percentage Rate (APR) and others quoting Annual Percentage Yield (APY).

Making sure that you are comparing like with like is no easy task. In addition understanding the cost and benefit of the various loyalty schemes can further affect the decision and make a substantial difference the total value of your income over the course of a year.

Thankfully here at Definda we've done all the hard work for you. We carefully monitor all the platform rates and arrange the data in an easy to use crypto savings calculator. Simply enter the amount and type of currency that you want to deposit and we search all the platforms that support that currency, compare the rates and show you the enhanced benefits available with their various loyalty schemes. The calculator is completely free to use and does not affect the savings rate that you obtain.

How to Signup For a Savings Account

Signing up for a savings account is really easy. Just find the best platform for your situation using our crypto savings calculator, click through to the platform and create an account with your username and password in the normal way. Most platforms allow you to sign up either via their mobile app or directly on their website.

As part of the account signup process, most platforms will offer 2 factor authentication (2FA) as a security option for your account. We highly recommend that you enable 2FA as it makes your account significantly more secure. 2FA works in a similar way to the physical security dongles that some traditional banks are now providing to customers. All you need to do is install a 2FA application on your phone such as Authy or Google Authenticator. You can then pair this authenticator with your platform account by using the authenticator app to scan a QR code provided by the platform. Once completed somebody can only access your account if they also have access to your authenticator.

Once you have signed up and setup your 2FA, then you will need to complete the platform's Know Your Customer (KYC) and Anti Money Laundering (AML) checks. Thankfully this process is highly automated on most platforms now. All you need to do is take pictures of your face and your ID document such as your passport and you'll have completed most of the process. The platform may also ask you what the source of the funds that you are depositing is. Some platforms may manually review your application before providing you with access, whilst others may provide you with limited access until your application is formally approved.

Finally once your account is approved you simply need to transfer your funds to the platform. This can be via a regular crypto transfer or if you are depositing fiat currency (e.g. Dollars or Euros) then a regular bank transfer.

Safety and Security Considerations

The world of cryptocurrency and decentralised finance is extremely fast moving and you should always act with caution when dealing with any company operating in the space. There is inevitably a certain level of risk involved in any new industry and if you are not comfortable with taking some level of financial risk then cryptocurrencies and decentralised finance platforms may not be the right choice for you.

Whilst all of the platforms offering crypto savings accounts are very young companies, they are operating within a highly regulated industry. The KYC and AML checks when you signup to these platforms are annoying, but they also provide some level of confidence that these companies are legitimate and are following the appropriate regulatory procedures and protocols.

We provide significant background information on the platforms that we list including the company location, legal status, licenses and certificates held, key individual bios, insurance levels and much more. It is worth reviewing this information carefully before deciding to proceed with signing up. Also carefully check recent reviews for the platform. It's best to check a number of different review sources in case the reviews on one review site have been manipulated in some way.

When you deposit funds on the platform, the platform then needs to act with extreme caution to ensure that those funds are not lost for example by the platform being hacked. Many platforms have opted to outsource this function to a third party crypto security custodian such as Bitgo. By taking this approach the crypto assets are held separately to the platform software, so even if the platform was hacked, the amount of crypto currency that could be stolen would be limited. The third party crypto custodians offer substantial protection of the crypto assets such as storing the assets in cold storage wallets (wallets that are not network connected), using multi-signature wallets (more than one person required to authorise transfers), and using discrete geographical locations for storage of wallets. In addition the custodian will provide substantial insurance against theft of the assets.

As new businesses, there is a risk that they could go bankrupt due to mismanagement or a collapse in crypto prices. Check the background of the business carefully to decide whether you feel it is well managed before deciding to proceed.

When transferring money to and from the platform always ensure that you are dealing directly with the platform (i.e. you are using the platform's mobile app or you are definitely on the platforms website and have a secure connection). It is sensible to transfer a small amount of money to the platform first and once that has been received then transfer a larger amount.

Treat any received messages, emails or calls from the platform with extreme skepticism. Any messages requesting money, suggesting a change in your account or saying you need to act urgently should be handled very cautiously. It is always best to contact the platform directly and speak to their customer service team if you have any doubt about the legitimacy of the message.

Whilst cryptocurrency and DeFi platforms certainly are not for the faint of heart it is worth keeping in mind that traditional banks can and do go bust, and in some countries suffering financial collapse assets have been seized from private banks by governments. There is always some level of risk involved no matter where you store your money and it is important to find the right level of risk for your own personal circumstances.

Frequently Asked Questions