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BlockFi Review: Is It Worth Handing Over Your Private Keys For Over 8%? (2020)
In this article I am going to give an recap of my experience using Blockfi, so let’s take a look at this Blockfi Review! Before I get into the burning questions about what this is and why you want it, I want to just mention that I recently wrote an in-depth ebook that goes over the 5 best ways to secure your cryptocurrency.
This information is extremely valuable and it goes into far more than just common sense. You can click HERE to get your free download now! This also gives an intro into the best practices when sending, receiving, or managing crypto in all cases, make sure to check it out! So let’s get to Blockfi and why it matters in today’s crypto market.
What Is BlockFi?
Blockfi is a new platform that allows you to get crypto-backed loans against fiat and also allows you to gain compound interest on your bitcoin holdings that you already have. DeFi (decentralized finance) is a new category in the space that is inevitably going blow up and has already shown signs of this happening.
This is basically a bank account for your crypto on steroids. It is fully insured and backed by the FDIC and SIPC Insurance that is partnered with Gemini Exchange. Anyone that is familiar with this exchange, it is very “by the book” and has customer protections in place to protect you in th event of the company going under.
This is a dual-purpose platform that now gives consumers a way to leverage their crypto holdings to help them get out of debt that they’ve accrued in fiat currency. Plain and simple. for example, let’s say you “HODL’ed” your bitcoin during the run up and crash that happened at the end of 2017 and you now want to put up your crypto as a way to get a loan (with a low 4.5%) interest rate to pay off some credit cards.
No problem, in fact, they do a 50% collateralized option, which basically means you just need to put up twice as much crypto as you take in fiat. So let’s say you need $10,000 to pay off credit cards, all you need to is to send $20,000 worth of bitcoin or ether in order to get the loan issued. You will get all of this back at the end of the term (usually 1 or 2 years, and you can prepay with no penalties). Additionally, any gains that your BTC made during that time is yours as well, so it’s a win-win situation (in my opinion).
What Is A Bitcoin Backed Loan?
I touched on this above, but this is a special type of loan that is “backed” or issued with collateral of either Bitcoin or Ethereum for the fiat value you receive. For example, if you need $5,000 US dollars, you would put up $10,000 US dollars worth of crypto to get a fiat loan until the low interest loan has been paid off.
The standard term lengths are usually 12-24 months. This is extremely helpful if you have less than stellar credit and you need an asset to use for leverage to help you pay off or pay down your debt that you’ve accrued.
This is an interesting concept, because this is the first type of asset class that you can be used as collateral for this type of use and it may pave the way for utilizing different types of value or asset classes in the future in different industries. This process is also fast, as most people get access to their funds within 2 business days.
Additionally, this is the first type of service that allows you to get a loan without having to pay origination fees and you get to KEEP all of your coins at the end of the term!
How Much Interest Can I Earn?
Right now, the interest rates are set at 6.2% APY (per year) compounded. This is subject to change or fluctuate for the future, but when you sign up for at least a 1 year term, you rate is locked in, so you won’t risk it going any lower during your term.
This is helpful because you can calculate what your monthly returns will be, and that doesn’t even include the gains you will make in the newly budding bull market. This is helpful, because you can know for sure that you will at least get a certain return amount at very least.
This method is just one way I decided to diversify my holdings in an attempt to earn more passive income leveraging the crypto I already hold on my hardware wallet. There are always risks when you invest, but this is pretty risk-free if you ask me, as it’s compounding interest that is paid to you each month and you don’t risk losing it, like you possibly can with other investments.
The interest rate can possibly go up or down over time, so I recommend that if you ‘re on the fence, top at least try and lock in a 1-year term like I did, before they change it.
With this bull market starting up, I can only assume the interest that is paid out will go down, as the value of your assets will likely far surpass that. 8% is pretty high, and it surely beats any CD or other bank or savings accounts out there.
What Are The Minimum Deposits And Terms?
This is detailed on Blockfi’s website as well, but I will list the details here below:
“There is no minimum or maximum deposit for the BlockFi Interest Account. However, only deposits over 0.5 BTC, 25 ETH, or $2,500 GUSD will accrue interest. Balances of up to and including 25 BTC or $100,000 GUSD will earn the 6.2% APY interest rate. All balances over that limit will earn a tiered rate of 2% interest. To clarify, if you had 25.5 BTC in your BIA account, the first 25 BTC would earn interest at 6.2% and the remaining 0.5 will earn interest at 2%. For ETH, balances between 25 ETH and 100 ETH will earn 3.25% APY. ETH balances above 100 ETH will earn 0.2% APY.”
Is It Safe To Use Blockfi?
There are always risks when sending your private keys to a 3rd party, however you need to weigh your options. This is not for everyone, but is a good resource for people that have racked up a lot of debt and have an asset in their savings that they can now use in order to get some relief. There has never been an option like this before in the past, so I only recommend doing this if you need it.
Anyone that knows me knows that I’m a HUGE advocate of keeping your private keys in your possession at all times. So why did I try this? The simple answer is diversification. To clarify, I didn’t use the bitcoin backed loan option, but rather the compound interest option with some extra ETH that I had on my hardware wallet that I was willing to risk. Holding it on a hardware wallet is always the safest, but that just means you will live with the gains (or losses for the past year and a half) with whatever the market gives you.
***CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR BLOCKFI AND TRY IT OUT!***
Conclusion
Overall, I liked the service and the customer support that I received. I always like to support crypto-based companies because I am fascinated with the space and I am always eager to see the new innovation that is being created within this new industry. I wanted to try to earn some compound interest on coins I was going to be HODL-ing anyways and I used the minimum amount required just to test it out. If I like it and my experience is smooth after 12 months, I may go longer. We will have to see where the market is at that point.
***CLICK HERE TO SIGNUP FOR BLOCKFI***
The one take away I will give you is, if you have only a small amount of BTC or ETH, I would still use a hardware wallet to store your coins, until you’ve accumulated a lot more of it. If you want to start diversifying and branch out once you’ve built up your stash like I have, it’s a very interesting way of “guaranteeing” returns, for coins you plan on keeping for a long time. I will leave a link below for the hardware wallet that is my favorite right now below!
CLICK HERE TO BUY KEEPKEY FROM THEIR OFFICIAL SITE!
What do you think? Would you hand over your private keys for compound interest at 6%? Let me know if the comments below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
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Massive Bitcoin Stash of 40,000; Bitcoin Whale Moves $229 Million For Only 57 Cents
Massive Bitcoin Stash of 40,000; Bitcoin Whale Moves $229 Million For Only 57 Cents. As reported on May 1st, 2019, a bitcoin whale has moved over 40,000 BTC or over ($212 million) moved from one address (bc1q9sh6544xls87x7skjzyfhkty4wq7z76vn7qzq9) to another (bc1q5shngj24323nsrmxv99st02na6srekfctt30ch).
There are some theories floating around on Twitter as to who the whale is. Some people have speculated on Twitter that the whale is Bitcointalk user “Loaded” who is a well-known poster on the forum. Loaded is as well-known for his posts on the forum as he is for his stash of 40,000 BTC.
Further theories floated around on the forum itself that it was Loaded who made the transaction — although the user has not confirmed or denied that they made the transaction.
It should be noted that the Bitcoin in the address shows a pattern of moving from one address to the next for no apparent reason according to the transaction history on Blockchain.com.
Another thing to note is the first three characters of the address. ‘bc1’ means that the address is using the segregated witness (SegWit) protocol that currently accounts for 40% of all Bitcoin transactions according to transactionfee.info.
Segwit is a protocol that was introduced on the 23rd of August to make Bitcoin transactions faster and cheaper.
The amount of money used to move the $229,000 million was only 57 cents according to the data. Bitcoinist reported earlier, Bitcoin fees are often mismatched with how much the user should actually be paying. This mistake, according to researchers, was due to the fact that consumer wallets appear to incorrectly estimate the required fee.
Although the 40,000 Bitcoin transaction is no small amount, it pales in comparison to the transaction that occurred on the 10th of January this year.
A total of 130,004 BTC ($742,972,860.00) was sent to the following address. (385cR5DM96n1HvBDMzLHPYcw89fZAXULJP). To date, this remains as the second largest bitcoin transaction ever, with the largest being 500,000 BTC which occurred on November 16, 2011.
BITCOIN STASH: BITCOIN WHALES ACCUMULATE
The bitcoin whales in the market seem to be going through a period of accumulation. In fact, 100 of the largest bitcoin wallet addresses accumulated 150,000 extra bitcoin.
One news site Bitcoinist did the math on this accumulation and deduced that they came from wallets holding less than 1,000 and 10,000 BTC. So the ‘rich’ are getting richer — many of which belong to exchanges — while the less-informed crypto speculators continue dropping bags.
WHY THIS BITCOIN WHALE MATTERS
Consider this for a moment. If you were to go to a bank and you were a high profile client and wanted to make a large transfer such as this anonymous bitcoin holder made, firstly, you would need to make an appointment. Secondly, you would need to go in person during standard business hours and shake hands and meet with certain individuals and make pleasantries before you could actually conduct your business. In other words, it’s an ordeal before the transaction has even begun.
After the charade and process of meeting and greeting, you then need explain your situation. Why are you sending this amount of money? Where are you sending this money? Which bank is receiving this money? Can we record or report this transaction and your explanation to the IRS directly, or do you already have a notarized letter from a CPA? Can we see two forms or ID?
…This is just the beginning of a series of questions you might encounter when trying to move your money from location A to location B when dealing with a bank. This is all before you are actually “authorized” to move your own money.
When you’re dealing in bitcoin, you don’t need permission, you don’t need to submit ID, you don’t need to wait 7-10 business days. It happens virtually instantly with the click of a button. Understand how powerful this is. Not even the most powerful and connected of business men can bypass the security and tracking that goes on with a bank and dealing with “regulation” of the legacy financial system. Additionally, consider the banking “fees” they would impose (after they’ve approved you to move your money after vetting not only yourself, but the recipient) for moving that sum of money.
As an example, international wire transfers at Fidelity charge upwards of 3% of the total transaction amount to wire this amount. For those of you who do not want to do the math, that is $6,780,000.00 as a fee to move this money. With bitcoin, this person did it with 2 quarters and a few pennies worth of fees.
That is why this is the future. I see this technology as inevitable for the entire world to adopt, because the bankers are far too greedy. Additionally, they see no problem with what they charge and why they do it. They will continue to blow bitcoin off as a valuable means of exchanging value, but as you can see above, it’s happening and it’s very possible.
FIRST STEP TO BECOMING YOUR OWN BANK
Part of becoming your own bank is first understanding the risks and responsibilities that goes with self-sovereignty. This is an amazing gift, but should be take very seriously and with the utmost care and responsibility. There is no 1-800 number to complain to when you mistype an address or you make a mistake. There is no one that can reverse a charge, or give you a refund. This is an irreversable, yet incorruptable form of dealing with money.
I do not say this to scare you, yet rather to implore you to double check everything you do and engage in the proper research when learning about making cryptocurrency transactions. The website you are on offers a myriad of valuable information ranging from beginners to experts in the space and provides a wealth of information, as well as tools to assist you in your crypto journey.
If you are new (or advanced), I recommend obtaining a hardware wallet to store your private keys offline, safely and securely to ensure that you are not risking your life’s work. The best one with the easiest to use interface that I’ve been recently using a lot is called “KeepKey“. This device has been around for several years now and is considered a widely used and respected device. I use it personally almost every day. Additionally, I have been testing their brand new unified platform that is currently in beta and it is BY FAR the easiest to use hardware wallet experience I have used.
It is extremely impressive and I can’t wait for all of you to see it. In the meantime, their existing platform is still very intuitive and user friendly, but the upgrade that is coming definitely a game changer. For more information on this device and to purchase directly from the KeepKey’s Official Website.
What do you think? Is this the first evidence in a shift in global finance to bring cryptocurrency mainstream? Sound off below!
Cheers,
The Crypto Renegade
NOTE: This post may contain affiliate links. This adds no cost to you but it helps me focus on giving as much value as possible in every single post by being compensated for recommending products that help people succeed.
