3 Ways to Earn Bitcoin? Stacks Blockchain vs. CeFi
In this article, we will share three ways to earn Bitcoin (BTC) continuously: one using the stacks blockchain protocol and the other two using CeFi platforms. If you believe in the long-term scarcity value of Bitcoin (BTC), read on. Otherwise, you can skip this article. From our perspectives, Bitcoin (BTC) could be becoming the digital “gold” in this new era. However, that’s not a certain thing.
Protocol: Stacking STX
Bitcoin(BTC) is a proof-of-work(PoW) coin, instead of proof-of-stake (PoS) coin such as Polkadot (DOT), Cardano (ADA). This means that you cannot earn more Bitcoin (BTC) by staking Bitcoin (BTC) in some protocols.
However, someone came up with the interesting stacking ecosystem (STX) over the past few years. You can stack STX in the Stacks protocol and generate a daily yield of Bitcoin (BTC).
For retail participants, the best way to start is to utilize platforms that provide stacking services for free. Our recommendation is OKCoin, which allows you to stack with a minimum of 50 Stacks (STX). At the current Stacks (STX) price of $2, this equates to an investment of $100 in USD only.
The steps are straightforward. First, you need to open an account at OKCoin. If you are from the US, you can easily transfer USD to OKCoin through ACH without any charge. Next, you can purchase 50 STX on OKCoin. Cryptos on OKCoin are priced in USD. So you can make the purchase directly using fiat money. At this point, if you have been using referral link from your friend or using the link here to open your account, you are eligible to earn $10 USD worth of Bitcoin (BTC) as accounting opening bonus.
On the OKCoin interface, you can click “Earn” on the menu and you will see the “Earn BTC” section (shown in the screenshot below). You can click on “Deposit” to start the stacking process. The page displays an estimated stacking yield of 10% APY. Once you click on “Deposit”, you are asked to pick the stacking terms. We pick the longest time possible (i.e. half a year) to avoid the hassle of restacking every two weeks. You can pick a minimum stacking term of two weeks (i.e. one stacking cycle). However, please note that once you unstack, you need to wait for another cycle (i.e. two weeks) to enter the stacking protocol again.
You may wonder what the actual yield looks like. Below you can find the latest realized BTC yield between May 1 and May 6 from our 69.4 Stacks(STX) deposit into the stacking protocol through OKCoin.
To help you see more clearly, we copy the numbers to an Excel spreadsheet and calculate the annualized yield based on the current price of Bitcoin (BTC) and Stacks (STX), taking into account the days not generating Bitcoin (BTC) yields in-between the stacking cycles. The realized annualized stacking yield for BTC is found to be 14.5% between May 1 and May 6. If the required yield of return is 10%, the current price of Stacks (STX) may offer an attractive entry point.
CeFi: BlockFi
The more direct way to get exposure on Bitcoin (BTC) is to buy Bitcoin (BTC) directly and HODL in some interest-bearing crypto accounts on CeFi platforms. If you are from the US, the most trustworthy and convenient platform is BlockFi.
BlockFi offers the Interest Account (BIA) which lets you put your crypto to work and earn monthly interest payments in the asset-type that you deposit with BlockFi. Similar to OKCoin, BlockFi allows US residents to transfer fiat currency to BlockFi without any costs through ACH. Fiat USD will be converted 1:1 to GUSD. You can use GUSD to buy Bitcoin (BTC) directly on the platform. Below you can see the web interface for BlockFi, which allows you to deposit, withdraw, trade and borrow cryptos easily.
In the past, BlockFi was offering a yield of 6% APY on your first 1BTC deposit. However, BlockFi has recently announced a big cut in the yield. That’s quite a bummer! Starting in May, the yield has been cut to only 5% APY for your first 0.5 BTC, and even less to only 2% APY or 0.5% APY if your deposit exceeds certain thresholds. If you are a whale, you will certainly move to other CeFi platforms. If you are novice player who is starting to enter the crypto, BlockFi is still a good entry point due to its convenience in switching in/out with fiat USD and is under good regulation in the US.
One nice thing about BlockFi is that it currrently offers attractive first time deposit bonus. We manage to find a link that leads to a page that describes the deposit bonus. You have to follow the instructions in that page to get the deposit bonus. You can earn up to $250 free Bitcoin (BTC) depending on your first deposit amount! That’s indeed quite an attractive offer! We do not know when this special offer is ending. It appears to be still valid at the moment (in early May). In any case, please read the detailed conditions on that page.
CeFi: ApyHarvest
The last CeFi platform we are sharing is ApyHarvest. This is a hidden gem and is where most of us are currently hoarding our cryptos. It is more suitable for more advanced players who understand how crypto works. Because ApyHarvest does not deal with fiat currencies directly, it may not be easy for novice players to get comfortable over there.
The special thing is that ApyHarvest doesn’t operate any web portal to reduce cyber hacking risks. Instead, everything is dealt with using email communications. Every member is assigned a personal banker who will be in charge of all your crypto banking businesses. It simply works like private banking but everything is done through email (using pass phrase for verification).
The strengths of ApyHarvest is that it offers higher yields than most of its competitors in the CeFi space. ApyHarvest aims to attract deep-pocket clients with its cost structure similar to a “private banking” model. So the yield actually increases with the level of holdings in ApyHarvest. Officially, it has a three-tier membership system that offers three tiers of yields. For BTC, it is offering yields of 6.01% for tier 1 members and up to 8.14% for tier 3 members.
ApyHarvest tier system is explained below:
Tier 3: Reserved for users that HODL 25000 USDC and more for period of 90 days or longer.
Tier 2: Users that HODL 5000 USDC and more for period of 30 days or longer.
Tier 1: All users that HODL amount equal or larger than 10 USDC in any coin we support.
Another nice feature of ApyHarvest is that you can earn yields paid in any crypto currencies that you designate. Each day, ApyHarvest use the market exchange rate to automatically convert the interest to the designated cryptos. For example, you can deposit USDC and earn the interests in Bitcoin(BTC). This is probably by far the safest option to get exposure to Bitcoin(BTC) without risks of losing your principal investment in USD. For example, you can up 13.61% on your USDC for tier 1 members and 16.73% on your USDC for tier 3 members.
ApyHarvest actually offers a hidden tier 4 membership that offers even higher yields of USDC and BTC. Tier 4 members require a minimum of $150,000 net deposit at ApyHarvest for six months. One of us has already reached tier 4 member there. The higher the tiers, the more deposit bonus you may enjoy from time to time. But we do not think that we are allowed to disclose further details on the hidden tier 4 membership benefits.
The drawback of ApyHarvest is obvious. It has a more opaque business model with top management totally anonymous. The reason or excuse provided is that top management hold substantial crypto holdings in the firm (i.e. whales). They are worried about security once their names are exposed. If you are not comfortable with the opaqueness in top management, you should not be using ApyHarvest.
To get started, it is very easy. Simply click on “Get Started” from the menu bar and fill in the form shown. Then someone from ApyHarvest will contact you for further instructions.
Similar to BlockFi, ApyHarvest provides attractive accounting opening bonus as well as first time deposit bonus. The best referral code we can find is WX7G10K14C, which gives you 50 USDC after 400 USDC deposit. You need to fill in the referral code when you register through the “Get Started” form to claim this bonus. At the same time, you also get to earn additional first time deposit bonus up to 300 USDC depending on deposit amount (shown below).
Additionally, ApyHarvest provides special deposit bonus from time to time. In May, it is offering very attractive deposit bonus for new and existing members. However, the minimum deposit amount is large and may not work well for small retail participants.
