New York-based BlockFi, a provider of crypto-backed lending products, has lowered the minimum required Bitcoin balance to earn interest to 0.5 BTC. The move was part of several updates to Gemini-backed firm’s services which also included offering the interest-bearing crypto accounts to its users in India.
The company added that it expects to lower its minimum balance further in the near term.
“And as an added bonus, we’re applying this retroactively as of April 1st. That means if your BIA BTC balance was between 0.5 and 1 BTC in April, you’re eligible to receive interest at the end of April,” BlockFi explains.
According to the company’s statement, BlockFi crypto lending platform has attracted so far over $53 million in deposits from retail, corporate, and institutional crypto investors.
BlockFi launched its service earlier last month, offering loans to those who are interested in borrowing crypto, starting from $2,000 and go as high as $100 million, against bitcoin, Ethereum or litecoin at a 4.5 percent interest rate.
Billionaire Mike Novogratz backs BlockFi
While BlockFi is advertising 6.2 percent in annualized returns paid in Bitcoin or Ether, according to the product’s terms and conditions page, the company can modify the rate each month at its sole discretion.
The startup confirmed that ETH deposits up to 250 ETH will still earn the 6.2 percent annual percentage yield interest rate. However, it added that demand for borrowing ETH had dropped the previous month, and as a result, it will adjust ETH tier rates in tandem. The company further explains that interest rate is set on a month-to-month basis and is based on a combination of rates BlockFi sees in the institutional cryptocurrency borrowing market.
BlockFi is backed by billionaire Mike Novogratz’s Galaxy Capital, which last year raised nearly $58 million in various funding rounds. The Winklevoss twins' Gemini exchange is providing custody of BlockFi accounts, which recently added digital asset insurance coverage.
