How to Earn Interest on Stellar?
Stellar, known for its cryptocurrency XLM, is a direct competitor of Ripple. XLM is also referred to as Lumens. Stellar founder is Jed McCaleb, one of the founders of Ripple. He left the company because of internal disagreement and launched Stellar in 2014. So far, Stellar has competed well against Ripple and have built a strong community in the process.
Many Stellar hodlers strongly believe in the long term potential of XLM, and thus, they are long on it. If you are one of them, there is a way to maximize your profits while hodling XLM. All you have to do is deposit your Stellar into an interest account and begin earning interest on Stellar. Follow the steps below to begin earning interest up to 8% on Stellar:
- Signup for an Interest Account
To begin earning interest on Stellar, you will need an interest account. Visit a website of an interest account provider and go to their registration page. Enter your name and email address in the boxes there and click on submit.
- Verify Your Account
Once you have clicked on submit after adding your name and email address, you will receive an email from the interest account provider. The email will contain a verification link, which you must click to verify your email address.
After verifying your email address, you will have to go through a KYC process to activate your account. In the KYC process, you will have to enter your personal details and also upload an image of your government-issued ID card. Another thing that you will need here is a photograph of yourself holding the card.
Once you have added your personal details and uploaded the document and the photograph, click on the submit button. You will receive an email about KYC approval within a few days after completing the KYC process.
There is no signup or KYC process in the DeFi space. Hence, if you are planning to earn interest on Stellar from a DeFi interest account provider, you won't have to complete any signup or KYC process. Connect your wallet with their platform and deposit Stellar to your account. Once there is Stellar in your account, the interest accruals will begin automatically.
- Deposit Stellar to Your Account
After you are done with the second step, your interest account will be ready for earning interest. But to earn interest, you must deposit Stellar to your interest account. Go to the page where all the available deposit options are listed and click on the Lumens/XLM option from the list. You will receive a unique wallet address and a tag.
Copy and paste the unique XLM wallet address and tag into the Stellar withdrawal section of the wallet where you are withdrawing XLM to your interest account. Enter the amount of Stellar you wish to withdraw and click on the withdraw button. Within a few minutes, you will receive Stellar in your interest account.
- Start Earning Interest
Once you have completed the three steps above, you don't have to do anything else. Relax and watch your crypto income grow with interest up to 8% APY.
Why Earn Interest on Stellar?
By earning interest on Stellar, you are effectively multiplying your profits. Instead of keeping Stellar in your wallet, you are earning interest on your Stellar holdings while keeping it safe in your interest account. In this way, you can benefit from its price appreciation as well as the interest income. Secondly, the interest that interest account providers pay on Stellar is far more than what banks are paying on fiat currencies.
- Easy Process
All you have to do is go through a 3-step process, and you will begin earning interest on Stellar. First, signup for an interest account and go through the KYC process on the platform. Then, deposit Stellar into your interest account after you receive an email about KYC approval. That's all you have to do, and the interest accrual will begin automatically.
If you are opting for a DeFi interest account, then the process becomes even easier. There is no signup or KYC process to earn interest on the DeFi interest platform.
- Low Risk
Earning interest on Stellar is a comparatively less risky option than many other similarly high interest-paying financial instruments. The interest that you earn on Stellar comes from the lending business of an interest account provider. They lend cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies to borrowers. To manage the risks involved, they make over-collateralization mandatory to borrow from them.
- Passive Income
Passive income is the best form of income, and there is no doubt about it. You don't have to do anything else after depositing Stellar into your interest account. Keep your Stellar holdings in your interest account and earn interest up to 8% APY.
Where can I earn Interest on Ethereum?
As Stellar is one of the popular coins, there are multiple Stellar interest account providers. But the best options among them are Nexo, YouHolder, and Celsius Network.
Nexo
Nexo offers interest up to 8% on Stellar deposits. But to earn the highest interest rates on Stellar, you will have to meet some of their criteria. You must agree to receive interest payout in NEXO tokens. NEXO is a native token of Nexo. You must also hold 10% or more of your investment portfolio in NEXO tokens. Another criterion you should meet is that you must agree to lock your funds with Nexo for one or three months.
If you meet all these criteria, you will become eligible to receive up to 8% APY on your Stellar deposits. In case you do not meet the third criteria but meet the first two, you will only earn interest up to 7% APY on Stellar. With a Flex account, you are free to withdraw your funds at any time you want.
YouHodler
With YouHodler, you can earn interest up to 4.5% on your Stellar funds. But unlike other platforms that we are covering here, YouHodler mandates depositing a minimum of $500 worth of Stellar to become eligible to earn interest on it.
The good thing about a YouHodler account is that there is no lock-in period on YouHodler. You are free to withdraw your Stellar funds whenever you want. The interest payout is weekly, and there are no deductions from YouHodler.
Celsius Network
One of the most popular names among the internet account provider's today, Celsius Network offers interest up to 3.88% on Stellar. But just like Nexo, Celsius also has its own set of requirements that you must meet to earn the highest rates of return they offer.
You must agree to earn interest in CEL tokens. But if you are a citizen of the United States or its territories, you cannot earn interest payout in CEL tokens. It automatically disqualifies you from earning the highest interest rates available on Celsius for Stellar hodlers.
If you are from a country other than the United States and don't want to earn rewards in CEL tokens, you will only earn 3.10% interest APY on your Stellar deposits.
Is it Risky Earning Interest on Stellar?
Yes, there are risks, and you need to know about them. A crypto interest account provider offers a part of their income to their interest account holders in the form of interest. Their major source of income is lending cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies. Therefore, there are risks involved.
Most of the crypto lending platforms manage risk by making over-collateralization mandatory for borrowing from them. Yet, a few don't have such requirements as they want to stand out in the industry where over-collateralization is a norm.
They also offer higher interest to their interest account holders as their charges are higher than average for providing loans to borrowers. If you opt for an interest account with such platforms, your funds will be at higher risk.
If borrowers start defaulting on their loans, these platforms will fail to pay interest to their interest account holders. Everything will go south if the number of loan defaults starts piling up. It can result in bankruptcy. A bankrupt platform won't be able to refund the user funds.
Then there are risks of hacking. If a platform keeps a large share of its user funds in a hot wallet, there is a higher chance of the funds being lost due to hacking. A large hacking incident can also result in bankruptcy.
Today, many interest account providers have insured their user funds. So, having insurance is enough? Unfortunately not! If the amount lost is more than the insurance amount, the platform won't be able to refund all of its users funds.
To earn interest on Stellar safely, research each platform in detail. Choose only a credible interest account provider and do not trust any platform solely based on interest rates. You can also read in-depth BitCompare reviews on interest account providers to know more about them.
What to Look for When Choosing a Platform?
To earn interest on Stellar in the safest manner possible, you must choose a platform only if they meet some particular criteria. There is no doubt that the interest rate is a crucial criterion, yet it isn't the only one. You must equally value the duration since when the platform has been active in the industry.
A platform that has been offering interest accounts for a longer period is likely to be more credible. Hence, the two most important criteria are credibility and interest rates for choosing an interest account provider.
After checking the credibility and interest rates, it's time to check if the platform has insured its user funds or not. Insurance is crucial as if the platform loses user funds due to mismanagement, hacking, or a large number of loan defaults, the insurance company will pay the insured amount to the platform.
The platform will use these funds to cover the entire or a part of user funds lost. Depending on the insurance amount and user funds lost, the interest account holders will either receive only a part of their funds or full.
Another factor to check is the eligibility criteria to earn the highest rates of return on Stellar. Some platforms require their account holders to accept payout in the platform's native tokens. A few platforms will also require account holders to hold a part of their funds on the platform in their native token. If you do not meet these criteria, you won't be able to earn the highest advertised rates.
You must also check if the platform has any minimum deposit requirements. If the platform mandates depositing a minimum amount of Stellar, then you will have to comply with it. Otherwise, you won't earn interest on Stellar you deposit in your interest account.
Also, check the withdrawal rules as some platforms may charge a considerable percentage of fees to withdraw funds. Some may require you to deposit your funds for a specific period to become eligible to earn interest. If you do not want to lock in your funds, you can also opt for a platform that has no lock-in period. Some platforms like Nexo offer both types of accounts. You can select the one that meets your requirements and expectations.
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