Cryptocurrency lending firm BlockFi is now supporting Litecoin and Circle’s USDC stablecoin and will pay its users interest on their holdings of these popular Cryptocurrencies . BlockFi’s retail and institutional users will also have access to trade and receive loans in LTC and USD Coin, while automatically begin to accrue rewards on their holdings.
As previously announced, cryptoasset holders are no longer obliged to meet a minimum deposit amount to earn interest. The New York-based 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.
Starting Wednesday, BlockFi customers can earn interest on their holdings of the dollar-pegged stablecoin USDC. The initial annual percentage yield (APY) is 8.6 percent. The crypto startup is also offering a 3.8 percent annualized rate on Litecoin deposits, as part of its offering for interest-bearing accounts.
USDC and LTC will also be supported in BlockFi’s newly launched in-house Trading Platform .
Up to 6.2% APY on Bitcoin and Ether
“We’re excited to kick-off 2020 by adding USDC and LTC to our platform and providing seamless connectivity between earning, borrowing and trading. This added support facilitates global access to major markets, with our product line now empowering those building an investment strategy around USDC with options for growth they’d be hard-pressed to find elsewhere,” said Zac Prince, BlockFi’s CEO and founder.
BlockFi launched its service earlier last year, offering loans to those who are interested in borrowing crypto, starting from $2,000, and going as high as $100 million, against Bitcoin, Ethereum, or Litecoin at a 4.5 percent interest rate.
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 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.
