YouHodler vs CoinLoan vs Hodlnaut [Read Before You Invest]
Estimated reading time: 13 minutes
The cryptocurrency market has experienced a little bit of shakeup in the past few weeks. Bitcoin has once again proven to be a highly volatile asset.
With the price volatility, one might think it’s hard to get a maximum yield on their crypto assets. However, there are ways to get the most out of your crypto, even when the market price is plunging. If you’re looking to grow your asset’s profitability during market corrections, consider depositing your assets into a centralized finance (CeFi) platform. They offer interest-earning accounts that give you attractive returns on your crypto deposits.
Table of contents
There are many CeFi crypto lending platforms out there that offer varying services and interest rates. This time, we’ll take a look at three emerging CeFi platforms: CoinLoan, YouHodler, and Hodlnaut.
YouHodler vs CoinLoan vs Hodlnaut : Summary
| Features | CoinLoan | YouHodler | Hodlnaut |
|---|---|---|---|
| Min. Deposit | $100 | $5 | $0 |
| Duration limit (Interest Accounts) | Unlimited | Unlimited | Unlimited |
| Max Interest Rates (APR) | 12% (2% CLT Rewards Included) | 12% | 8% |
| Supported Assets | EUR, GBP, USDT, USDC, PAX, BTC, TUSD, BUSD, ETH, BCH, LTC, XMR, XRP, XLM, LINK,DAI, WBTC, PAXG | BTC, USDT, USDC, PAX, TUSD, DAI, HUSD, ETH, PAXG, HT, BNB, XRP, XLM, LINK, UNI, COMP, MKR, LTC, XRP, XLM, BNB, PAXG, DASH, EOS, BCH, HT | BTC, ETH, DAI, USDT, USDC |
| Total supported assets | 18 | 22 | 5 |
| Buy/Sell Crypto | Yes | Yes | No |
| Trading Option | Yes | Yes | No |
| Loans | Yes | Yes | Yes |
| Founded | 2017 | 2017 | 2019 |
| Security | Unknown | Ledger Vault | BitGo |
CoinLoan
CoinLoan is an Estonia-based crypto lending platform started in 2016 that claims to be the first peer-to-peer lending platform for loans backed by crypto assets. CoinLoan allows you to lend your money and earn competitive returns as a platform that caters to investors and borrowers.
The way it works is the lender deposits fiat or stablecoins while the borrower deposits their crypto as collateral to secure the loans. Once the borrower and lender are matched, a smart contract is generated to ensure the borrower pays on time.
The lender will get the principal returned plus interest at the end when the loan is paid off. The borrower will get the crypto assets back. It’s important to understand that when investing on the platform, you’re funding loans that are collateralized by crypto assets.
Coinloan’s maximum loan-to-value is 70%, and borrowers will be notified when LTV changes due to the market conditions. Throughout the process, CoinLoan acts as a custodian of the funds while ensuring a smooth and transparent experience.
CoinLoan Features
CoinLoan has three main features on the platform: borrow, earn, and trade. To start borrowing with CoinLoan is pretty simple, you need to collateralize your coins to borrow no more than 70% of your collateral’s value.
There are three different kinds of loans available; crypto-to-fiat, crypto-to-crypto, and fiat-to-crypto loans. There is a $100 minimum amount of loan and 30 days loan period for borrowing with CoinLoan.
Besides lending to the borrower, investors also can get more yield from their crypto assets through CoinLoan Interest Account.
At the time of writing, Coinloan is currently supporting 18 crypto & fiat assets with interest rates as high as 12.3% APY; bear in mind that there’s a 2% CLT (Coinloan native token) staking reward included in the rates. Coinloan also allows you to do token swap within the supported assets. You can do that easily on the platform with a few clicks.
CoinLoan Rates and Fees
CoinLoan doesn’t charge any fees for cryptocurrencies and fiat currency deposits. Withdrawals in crypto and fiat are also free. CoinLoan offers 7.8% (APY) for BTC, 7.2% (APY) for ETH, and up to 12.3% (APY) for stablecoins.
These rates have a 2% CLT staking reward included, no information about whether there’s an option to exclude the CLT staking rewards. Interest is accrued daily and deposited directly into your Interest Account on the first day of each month.
CoinLoan: Security and Risks
There is no information about where CoinLoan stores their assets other than “crypto assets are stored in offline, cold, multi-signature wallets.”
Furthermore, CoinLoan uses the “best-on-the-market cloud services provider that is certified by the world’s strict security standards and is trusted by major banks and financial institutions,” without mentioning the cloud services provider’s name. It does mention $100 million coverage for digital assets from BitGo for insurance that covers customers’ assets.
As for the license, CoinLoan has three Estonian Financial Licenses (FVR000111, FRK000091, and FFA000241). These licenses allow them to operate fiat, crypto, and alternative means of payment worldwide.
Ease of Use
At a first glance, it’s really straightforward to access the platform. The UI is clean and fresh with a relatively easy sign-up process.
As a general practice for most CeFi platforms, a Know-Your-Customer (KYC) process is mandatory and one of the requirements to use CoinLoan’s services.
Furthermore, CoinLoan has an iOS and Android app to make it easier to access the platform on smartphones.
CoinLoan: Pros and Cons
Pros
- The UI design looks nice, and that allows easy setup and registration process.
- Regulated in Estonia with European financial license
- A good variety of supported assets
- Both crypto/fiat lending and earning are available
Coinloan Cons
- Lack of transparency, especially in the storage of the assets, total loan value, and the financial reports
- Limited information about the shareholders and owners
- Not a lot of loans available to invest
- Users need to stake CLT to get better interest rewards
| Supported Assets | Interest Rates | Fees Schedules | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | Up to 12% APR | No fees for deposits & withdrawals | BitGo’s $100 million coverage for digital assets. |
YouHodler
Another contender for the CeFi platform that offers favorable interest rates for a savings account is YouHodler. Originated from Switzerland, YouHodler is a crypto-backed loan provider that allows users to borrow, swap, and earn on their crypto assets.
The crypto interest-earning account at YouHodler enables users to earn up to 12% APR plus compounding interest. Supporting popular assets such as BTC, ETH, and BNB, users can also earn interest on their fiat through stablecoins such as EURS, USDC, and USDT.
YouHodler Features
YouHodler is packed with a range of features such as crypto loans, exchange, savings account, and trading. Similar to CoinLoan, YouHodler also offers crypto-backed loans to borrowers. By collateralizing their crypto assets, borrowers can quickly access fiat loans without actually needing to liquidate their crypto assets.
As with many other CeFi platforms out there, these loans are over collateralized, meaning that you have to lock up your crypto that’s higher in value than what you’re borrowing. In this case, YouHodler has one of the highest loan-to-value (LTV) ratios at 90%.
The exchange feature enables you to exchange cryptocurrency, fiat, and stablecoins and you can also buy crypto with a credit card and your SEPA bank account.
The Interest earning account at YouHodler will turn your idle assets into passive income instantly with 12% APR for stablecoins and up to 8% for other cryptocurrencies.
Trading doesn’t come easier at YouHodler, with the name Multi HODL, the trading feature is geared towards those who want to gain profit from the market volatility in both directions, up and down, without hassle.
YouHodler Rates and Fees
At the time of writing, YouHodler supports 22 cryptocurrencies for its interest account. Most notably, it offers 4.8% APR for BTC deposits, 5.5% for ETH, and up to 12% for stablecoins.
Please note that these rates will have a compounding effect and users will receive the payouts on a weekly basis every Monday.
You need to deposit a minimum of $100 to begin earning interest. As for fees, YouHodler charges USD 25 per deposit for depositing with USD SWIFT accounts and EUR 25 per deposit for EUR SWIFT accounts.
There are no fees when depositing with crypto or stablecoins. There is a minimum withdrawal amount of $10-$50 in crypto equivalent. For more details on the fee schedules, click here.
YouHodler Security and Risks
The assets at YouHolders are stored with Ledger Vault and included in its $150 million pooled crime insurance led by Arch UK Lloyds of London syndicate.
YouHodler allows users with balances over USD 10,000 to lock their financial assets and disable withdrawals.
Due to legal requirements, YouHodler is not available to the USA, Bangladesh, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, and Palestinian Territories residents and citizens.
YouHodler Ease of Use
YouHodler is designed with simplicity and efficiency in mind. The design is nothing of the extraordinary as they focus on the product offerings. The signup process can be done within minutes and as with any CeFi platform, you need to complete the KYC process which is fortunately quite easy and quick.
Furthermore, the YouHodler wallet app allows you to transfer your crypto, convert to fiat, exchange to other cryptocurrencies, and hold the funds to earn interest in the same mobile application.
| Supported Assets | Interest Rates | Fees Schedules | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 22 | Up to 12% APR | 0 fees for deposits (except SWIFT), 0 fees for withdrawals (except for the blockchain fees). | $150 million pooled crime insurance |
YouHodler Pros and Cons
Pros
- Some of the highest LTV in the market for borrowing
- Earn interest on crypto and fiat stablecoins
- $150 million pooled crime insurance from Ledger Vault
- You can borrow, swap, and earn without hassle on the same platform
YouHolder Cons
- Higher loans fees compared to other similar platforms
- Not available countries like USA and China
- Not the best solution for long term loans due to high-interest rates
Hodlnaut
Hodlnaut is the brainchild of two self-proclaimed bitcoin maximalists Juntao Zhu and Simon Lee. Starting in Singapore in April 2019, Hodlnaut quickly rose to become one of the fastest-growing CeFi platforms in the region.
The Hodlnaut Interest Account is pretty straightforward. Users will earn some of the best interest rates in the market on five different asset classes. At the moment, Hodlnaut offers 6.2% APY for Bitcoin and 6.7% for Ethereum deposits with no lock-in periods or minimum deposits. You can also earn up to 8.3% APY on stablecoins such as USDT, USDT, and DAI.
Hodlnaut Features
The main feature of Hodlnaut is the savings account. The Hodlnaut Interest Account supports five different asset classes: Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Dai (DAI), USD Coin (USDC), and Tether (USDT). With the Hodlnaut Interest Account, users can grow the productivity of their idle assets with an effective annual percentage yield of up to 8.3%.
There are no minimum deposit or lock-in periods for the interest account. It takes minutes to sign up for an account with Hodlnaut. Once users have gone through the mandatory KYC (Know-Your-Customer verification process, they can begin earning interest immediately.
Hodlnaut will credit the accrued interest to the user’s account every week on Monday. Besides Interest Account, Hodlnaut also offers Corporate Loans. Through crypto loans, clients can obtain a credit line using their crypto assets as collateral.
With loans starting from $50,000 and flexible loan-to-value, 25%-100%, Hodlnaut can tailor the loans to fit the client’s business needs.
Hodlnaut Rates and Fees
Similar to YouHodler and CoinLoan, Hodlnaut is able to offer attractive interest rates to users by lending the assets to vigorously vetted margin traders in the form of crypto loans. Below is the list of supported assets for the Interest Account. These are Hodlnaut’s effective annual interest rates, which takes into account the compounding effect.
Withdrawals fees at Hodlnaut is regularly reviewed and adjusted based on the blockchain conditions. Currently, the withdrawal fees are kept to minimal and as follows:
| Currency | Minimum | Transaction Fees |
|---|---|---|
| Bitcoin | 0.0005 BTC | 0.0005 BTC |
| Ethereum | 0.005 ETH | 0.005 ETH |
| Dai | 3 DAI | 3 DAI |
| USD Coin | 1 USDC | 3 USDC |
| Tether | 1 USDT | 3 USDT |
Hodlnaut Security and Risks
As a centralized finance (CeFi) crypto lending platform, Hodlnaut requires its users to go through a KYC (Know-Your-Customer) verification process.
Certified Fintech company by the Singapore Fintech Association (a recognized credential by the Monetary Authority of Singapore), the company meets all the requirements for Digital Payment token License, has submitted the paperwork, and currently in the reviewing process for the Singaporean Standard Payment Institution License.
Hodlnaut platform runs on secure AWS (Amazon Web Services) cloud infrastructure with all traffic SSL encrypted. Furthermore, Hodlnaut uses industry-standard algorithms for password hashing and procedures while encouraging users to enable two-factor authentication (2FA) for account transactions. Taking a security-first approach, there are no hot wallets at Hodlnaut.
The company recently underwent a financial attestation performed by Crowe Singapore back in January 2021. The verification confirmed that Hodlnaut currently has US$106 million of assets under management. As of today, the AUM has grown to $250 million, as stated on the Hodlnaut website.
Hodlnaut: Ease of Use
At a glance, Hodlnaut’s platform is user-friendly and straightforward. Users can check the overview of their assets balance and the transaction history in their dashboard easily. They can also deposit, withdraw, and check their interest statement quickly within the same dashboard.
Another thing that’s also convenient is that you can generate and share your unique referral link. You’ll be able to check how many friends you’ve referred to and how much payouts you’ve received.
Also, Hodlnaut is part of Antler’s portfolio company, a global VC firm backing early-stage startups. While there’s a lot of room for improvement, Hodlnaut is gearing to provide more features such as token swap and launching a mobile application this year.
| Supported Assets | Interest Rates | Fees Schedules | Insurance |
|---|---|---|---|
| 5 | Up to 8.3% APY | No fees on deposits and withdrawal | No third-party insurance |
Hodlnaut Pros and Cons
Pros
- Providing one of the highest interest rates for Bitcoin at 6.2% APY
- Dedicated customer support with TrustPilot rating currently sits at 4.3 (Excellent).
- No minimum deposit required, no lock-in period, withdraw anytime.
- Weekly payouts on the interest paid every Monday.
Hodlnaut Cons
- Only supporting five asset classes at the moment
- No mobile applications available yet
- Limited features, although that might change soon
- No insurance, set aside profits to cover potential loss.
In Conclusion: YouHodler vs CoinLoan vs Hodlnaut
The crypto lending space is quickly expanding with the emergence of credible fintech that offers savings accounts with varying attractive rates.
CoinLoan attracts customers with its clean UI and European financial license on its belt. YouHodler makes it really easy for users to borrow, swap, and earn.
Finally, Hodlnaut focuses on helping holders get the most out of their BTC with a sizable 6.2% APY. As a general best practice, always research carefully before investing and signing up for a savings account with any of these platforms. No platform is perfect; however, you might have a specific need that these platforms can fulfill.
Have you tried any of these CeFi platforms? What is your experience? Share your HODL-ing story with us at [email protected] and let me know if there’s anything that I should clarify or elaborate on.
