Yield App serves as a cutting-edge digital wealth management platform, offering users the opportunity to effortlessly generate yield, engage in cryptocurrency buying, selling, and trading. Its overarching mission is to provide a secure avenue for individuals to earn passive income from their cryptocurrency holdings
With a substantial user base exceeding 100,000 customers across more than 140 jurisdictions, the platform has successfully facilitated over $2 billion worth of transactions in the last two years alone.
Despite these impressive stats, is Yield App a good choice for people looking to generate yields with their idle cryptos?
Our review dives into the workings of Yield App. We dissect its functions, features, pros and cons, and render a verdict that will help you decide whether it is worth your time and funds.
Ready to use Yield App? Get started by following the simple steps below.
Navigate to the Yield App website and create an account by clicking on the Sign Up icon at the top right of the page. Fill in your email and password and proceed to the next step.
Next, verify your identity by submitting KYC documents like an ID and a proof of address document like a utility bill. This is also where you complete your profile.
Deposit cryptos into your account or buy some with a credit card, wire transfer, or SEPA payment.
Start earning yield by committing funds to any of the Earn portfolios.
Yield App is a platform that allows you to earn yield on your digital assets without putting your crypto at risk. The platform describes itself as wealth partners that help people to grow their crypto portfolio through a safe, risk-averse approach by providing access to market-leading yield-generating products and opportunities in both DeFi and TradFi..
Yield App was founded by 2020 by Tim Frost who has previously been part of the founding team at Wirex, a global payments provider. To this day, Yield App has received over $60m in funding with the latest being Series A at the beginning of 2023. It was previously backed by known backers such as PALcapital, BnkToTheFuture and TrustSwap.
In 2021, Yield App had $500m under management and quickly became a top destination for easy to use crypto platforms with an addition of new features such as internal swaps, additional assets, and new investment funds. In 2023, Yield App acquired Trofi Group and later started to offer crypto structured products. Products such as Dual Currency- Buy Low and Sell High are now available on the platform under a new product, Yield Pro.
In addition, on-ramp and off-ramp with fiat were added but it is currently only limited to two currencies, EUR and GBP.
Yield App focuses on generating yields on eight major cryptocurrencies, i.e., Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, DAI, Avalanche, Binance Coin, and TUSD through various market-neutral strategies and DeFi allocations.
Once your account has been verified, you can deposit cryptocurrency or fiat into your account and deposit them in any of the portfolios available. There are three available options: the flexible pool which offers the lowest return, but still higher than the average US benchmark Treasury yield or bond rate.
The Earn+ pool offers higher yields but imposes a 30-day lockup period while the Earn+ 365 pool offers the best yields of the bunch but imposes a 365-day lockup period.
The platform uses the funds for DeFi activities like providing liquidity, crypto arbitrage, and other strategies that do not pose a risk to your capital. Note that Yield App does not use client funds for lending activities.
The platform also has a native token called YLD which is used to unlock various reward tiers within the ecosystem based on the number of tokens users stake.
Finally, the platform offers professional products for sophisticated investors that use complex derivatives and contracts but can be highly profitable.
The Earn Interest offering is Yield App’s major attraction as it offers yields on supported cryptocurrencies. These yields vary with the cryptos involved and the lock up periods chosen but range between 3% and 11% for all cryptos and tiers.
It consists of three distinct products which are
The flexible portfolio supports seven cryptos, namely Ethereum, Avalanche, Binance Coin, USDC, USDT, DAI, and TUSD. The rates are between 3% and 7% per year depending on the cryptos, but stablecoins return higher rates than platform coins.
There is no minimum lockup period and you can withdraw funds at any time. It is also the tier with the lowest overall rates.
The Earn+ portfolio offers higher rates than the flexible pool and supports eight cryptocurrencies including all the cryptos in the flexible pool and Bitcoin. Rates start from 5% and go up to 9%.
As before, stablecoins return higher rates than platform coins. However, there is a minimum lock up period of 30 days.
The Earn+ 365 portfolio delivers the highest returns with rates ranging between 7% and 11%. However, the number of supported cryptos is fewer as only six cryptos are available i.e., Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, TUSD, and DAI.
As usual, the stablecoins generate higher returns, but the minimum lock in period is 365 days.
The swap function supports fiat-crypto and crypto-crypto trades at prevailing market prices and at no extra cost. Swaps can be carried out between major cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, USDC, and DAI as well as GBP and EUR.
You can also set your cryptos to start earning yields immediately you swap by automatically assigning it to a portfolio.
Yield Pro is a set of structured products that appeal to the sophisticated investor looking for higher yields than the Earn portfolios can provide and willing to take on more risk to achieve it.
These products rely on derivatives and contracts that are built off cryptos’ price actions and combine aspects of options and fixed income derivatives. If you are a sophisticated investor, you may wish to explore this further by visiting the website.
The instant fiat deposit feature is a fiat on and off ramp for funding your account. The platform supports EUR and GBP through SEPA Instant and Faster Payments services. In addition, Yield App partnered with Volt.io to bring open banking to the platform. This means funding your account with EUR or GBP through direct connection with all major banks. You can also use PayPa, Wise, or other providers if you don’t have a European bank account.
Deposits are free and instant but subject to a $100,000 daily limit while withdrawals may be subject to a fee.
Yield App provides various business solutions, the most interesting being the institutional treasury management platform that allows companies and financial institutions to build and manage a digital assets portfolio.
Yield App offers a loyalty program that is powered by its native token, YLD, which rewards stakers with yearly returns (in addition to the Earn portfolios) and benefits like free withdrawals.
The program consists of four levels, Bronze, Silver, Gold, and Diamond. The benefits offered are rendered in the table below.
GBP per month
While security is always a pressing concern, it is especially important in this case because the bulk of your funds will be in cryptos and not in cold wallets as it will generally be actively deployed.
Because of this, you must ensure that the Yield App is thoroughly secure. Luckily, the platform checks many of the security boxes as it implements 256-bit encryption to protect your assets.
It also implements multi-party computation that allows multiple parties to make calculations using their combined data without revealing each individual input.
If you don’t hold any crypto or EUR or GBP, you can still buy crypto directly on Yield App but it may be more expensive. As they use a third-party provider like MoonPay, you will be completing additional KYC and paying fees on these deposits. The good thing is you can use Google Pay, Apple Pay or your credit card to do so.
Yield App is registered in the European Union as a Virtual Asset Service Provider (VASP) accredited by Italy’s Organismo Agenti e Mediatori (OAM), signifying a significant milestone in their dedication to complying with global digital asset regulations.
Activities like investing usually come with a cost. You must be aware of what these costs are and if you can afford to pay them for the long term.
Yield App only charges a small withdrawal fee when moving money away from your account. Everything else on the platform is free, including deposits and investing in the various portfolios.
Customer support is important for users who run into issues with their accounts or any of the portfolios. Ideally, live chat, phone, and email services should be made available.
Yield App provides live support and email support.
There are eight supported cryptos on the Yield App. You can use them to deposit funds, commit them to portfolios to earn yields, and withdraw them. They include:
There are three main products that offer yield on the platform. They include the Earn Flexible portfolio, the Earn+ portfolio, and the Earn+365 portfolio.
This portfolio supports seven cryptos and offers instant withdrawals at the cost of higher yields. However, no fees are charged.
The Earn portfolio supports eight cryptocurrencies and has a minimum lock-in period of 30 days, during which funds cannot be withdrawn without cost.
The Earn+ 365 is the highest tier which offers the best yields. However, it only supports six cryptocurrencies and has a minimum lock in period of 365 days.
Yield App is exceedingly cheap to use as it charges minimal fees for its products. Its major source of profit is the difference between the yields its strategies generate and what it pays users.
Hence, the only fee that is charged is a withdrawal fee on supported cryptos. For fiat currencies, the charges are 0.1% with a minimum of 15 EUR or GBP and a 15 EUR or GBP refund fee where applicable.
Crypto withdrawal fees are $10 – $18 worth of the supported cryptos, depending on prevalent prices.
Yield App supports two major methods for depositing fiat currencies which are SEPA Instant, Faster Payments, and SWIFT transfers.
There are also payment methods for buying crypto directly with fiat through on-ramps. They include credit card payments through Moonpay, SEPA transfers through Transak, and Apple and Google Pay.
The fees for these methods vary with the providers.
Your first deployment into any Earn product should be:
Yield App does not impose any minimum limits on crypto deposits. However, there are investment minimums which can be used as a guide. For fiat, the minimum is 1 EUR or GBP.
The maximum withdrawal limit for verified accounts is 1 million USD per day and 5 million USD per week in crypto. For fiat, the minimum withdrawals are 100 EUR/GBP, the daily limit is 20,000 USD, the weekly limit is 100,000 USD, and the monthly limit is 300,000 USD.
Yield App is not completely a DeFi application. Instead, it is a centralized application that employs DeFi strategies to generate yields. Hence, comparing it with DeFi applications is a tad misplaced.
However, it possesses some advantages over other centralized yield generating applications as most others focus on money market activities like lending to generate yield. This has proven to be risky and can lead to a loss of capital in cases of unsecured or leveraged lending.
Yield App does not dabble in lending activities, hence its strategies always ensure that capital is preserved.
The safety of Yield App depends on the site’s security measures as well as their legal compliance.
For security, the site implements SSL encryption to safeguard network communication and passwords. The site also uses proprietary wallet infrastructure, dedicated blockchain nodes, and cold wallets to safeguard user funds.
Where regulation is concerned. Yield App delivers its services through three major entities. Unifi Group Limited, Yield App OÜ, and Yield App Limited.
Unifi Group Limited is incorporated under the laws of the British Virgin Islands. YieldApp OÜ is an Estonian Limited Liability Corporation incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Estonia, and Yield App Limited is an international business company incorporated under the laws of the Republic of Seychelles.
The major reason to use Yield App is that it generates passive income that is higher than the average rate for risk-free fixed income assets in the US, which is the largest market.
Investors who are averse to cryptos’ volatility can use stablecoins like USDT, USDC, DAI, and TUSD, and still receive superior rates compared to legacy markets. Ultimately, it allows investors to benefit from the crypto market without having to navigate the volatility.
Thanks to Yield App’s legacy interface, anyone that has used a banking application will find it familiar. You can easily deposit funds, buy cryptos, commit them to Earn portfolios, and withdraw your profit at the end of your preferred period.
Also, if you prefer not to deal with cryptos, you can deposit fiat and convert it to crypto, or directly buy crypto using the on-ramps, generate profit, convert to fiat, and then withdraw.
Yield App is registered in all its countries of incorporation. Its licenses allow it to conduct business in Europe and several other countries with the exception of a few major areas like the US.
As such, users from greenlit countries can use the app freely.
Yield App is an investment platform that generates yields on select cryptos by implementing DeFi strategies that maximize profit while limiting downsides.
It is an ideal companion for investors who wish to profit from crypto but cannot (or do not wish to) hold cryptos, trade them, or have the knowledge to navigate DeFi applications.
The platform offers three main portfolios with varying flexibility, holding periods, and yields. Usually, the less flexible, the more profitable. However, sophisticated investors can take advantage of structured products that return much higher yields, but are riskier and more complex.
The main currencies supported are EUR, GBP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, USDT, DAI, USDC, TUSD, Binance Coin, and Avalanche, although the fiat are mainly for deposits and do not earn yields.
Ultimately, Yield App is a great platform for earning fixed income on funds.