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Crypto lending firm BlockFi increases interest rates on bitcoins and ether

Image by BlockFi

Fri, 20 Mar 2020, 00:26 am UTC

Crypto lending firm BlockFi is increasing its interest rates amid coronavirus outbreak.

In a post on its website, Zac Prince, CEO and Founder of BlockF, said that the firm's balance sheet is stronger than ever and the shifts in the institutional lending markets have given them opportunities to expand their market. So, starting April 1, BlockFi will be raising its interest account rates.

BlockFi users at BTC Tier 1 or those with 0 to 5 bitcoins will earn 6% annual percentage yield (APY). Meanwhile, those with 0-500 ether will earn 4.5% APY. The rates for Gemini Dollar (GUSD) and USD Coin (USDC) remains the same at 8.6% APY.

According to Prince, the firm has continued to maintain its perfect performance across its lending activities with zero losses in its lending book. He also mentioned that on March 12, there were downward price movements in the cryptocurrency market resulting in very limited liquidity, but the team and its risk management system handled it strategically.

“As a result of the team’s prudent actions during this period, our clients’ capital was saved and we also liquidated a smaller percentage (<10%) of our overall USD loan book vs. other market participants,” Prince wrote.

At present, the system has been processing the largest number and volume of daily deposits and withdrawals. Prince assured everyone that the firm is ready to meet the clients’ liquidity needs. The trading product remains up 24/7 with no downtime ensuring clients that they could sell or buy crypto any time of the day.

Normally, the service team handles 200 to 300 support tickets, but over the last 5 days, the team has received thousands per day. The team has been working hard to answer every ticket, so clients can receive full support.

“We continue to function as usual, with full remote status implemented for our entire team, and 100% availability across all our products,” Prince wrote to assure its customers about its service despite the crisis. He also recognized the effort of the BlockFi team.

“As the global economy weathers a number of headwinds, including the coronavirus pandemic, rest assured that at BlockFi we will remain a stable source of liquidity, while continuing to provide best-in-class wealth management solutions for our clients and the broader cryptocurrency market.“

Meanwhile, crypto exchange Binance has doubled the ETH withdrawal fees on its platform from 0.003 ETH to 0.006 ET. ERC20 withdrawal has also increased from 0.006 ETH to 0.01 ETH. Crypto traders were not happy with the changes. Binance explained that it had to do temporary adjustments due to high congestion on the network.

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