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HODLer's Den By Aromatic (Free Version)
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Hey everyone and welcome to the HODLer’s Den!
Here you will find information on my crypto investment portfolio straight from a HODLer’s perspective. This section will focus on HODLing cryptos and interest-earning platforms.
Crypto.com
Before discovering Bitrue, I placed most of my crypto assets on Crypto.com (CDC) because they had the best rates as an interest-earning platform. Within the next several months I researched the platform and transitioned a majority of my positions from Celsius Network. CDC came with many additional benefits and perks that made the decision extremely easy—it was a win all around—for a HODLer like myself.
Monaco Token
Before it was known as CDC, it was formerly called Monaco (MCO) and hence the platform uses MCO as the utility token. In a similar fashion to Celsius token (CEL), your MCO helps unlock additional benefits and perks on the CDC platform. For example, by staking 500 MCO I have access to better Annual Percentage Rates (APRs) when I lock up my assets with CDC. Other perks include higher cash back on purchases with the MCO debit card, 100% cash back in the form of MCO for subscriptions to Netflix and Spotify.
Originally, I only staked 50 MCO—this was the minimum MCO required for the best APRs available—but, they shifted the model to require staking a minimum of 500 MCO. When they changed the model, MCO was priced around 2.5 USD so I had to shell out an additional 1200 USD to purchase the required 500 MCO. Of course, I had to do a little more research before investing 1200 USD. With a maximum circulating supply of roughly 31.5 million MCO, not everyone will be able to enjoy the benefits afforded by CDC. If every user on CDC staked 500 MCO, only 63k users world-wide will have access to the perks and benefits. This number will decrease as time goes on because staking MCO earns more MCO, reducing the number of circulating MCO and limits the availability to new users. As a HODLer, I weighed the pros and cons, and decided to buy the required 500 MCO for staking.
As of writing this article, the price of MCO is 4.29 USD. Just by holding 500 MCO, I gained about 1000 USD due to price appreciation, and this excludes the 8% APR on MCO. My initial investment nearly paid itself off and eventually all my interests on MCO will be pure profit.
MCO Card Benefits
From the table above, you can get a glimpse of the benefits and perks that comes with each MCO debit card and the amount of MCO staking requirements for each card tier. You can visit CDC’s website to find out more information for the higher tiered cards.
I personally have 500 MCO staked so I have the Jade Green debit card. Let me tell you this card looks great and feels great—it is literally made almost entirely out of metal and has a good weight to it. The only downside is that it blocks wireless chargers from charging my phone since I use a wallet phone case.
I do not use Spotify, but I do have a subscription with Netflix. Each month my MCO debit card is charged 12.99 USD for Netflix. Below is a snapshot of my recent charge on June 21st.
On the same day, I get reimbursed an equal amount of MCO worth 12.99 USD in my wallet.
I like to think of it as dollar-cost averaging (DCA) into MCO while getting a “free” subscription with Netflix! If the price of MCO increases, I am basically earning money just for using Netflix. If the price of MCO drops, I am still getting a discount on my Netflix subscription via cash back in the form of MCO. In addition, I lock up my MCO to earn 8% APR. Overall, a big win for HODLers.
Interest Earned
Perks and benefits aside, the main reason I use CDC is for the wonderful APRs just for holding cryptos on the platform. When they first started, the APRs were no less than 8% for nearly all the assets available on the platform. At the time, Celsius Network was their main competitor and interest-earning platforms were still new. The APRs provided by CDC blew Celsius Network out of the water and hence I moved a majority of my positions over. Of course, to get the best rates you had to have enough MCO staked on CDC—initially it only required 50 MCO but the model shifted to 500 MCO.
Up to date, I have earned 9.5k USD interest by locking up my assets in 3-month periods. I started using CDC around August 2019 and earning roughly 10k USD in HODLer income is a good feeling. You can bet that I will compound the earnings and make even more in the coming years. The great thing about earning interests on crypto assets is that both the interests earned and the initial principals can appreciate in price resulting in a massive snowball effect with your wealth.
Currently, CDC offers 3-month, 1-month, and flexible lockup periods with 3-month yielding the best APR. Three months, or a quarter of a year, is a long time to lock up your assets, but if you are a true HODLer it should not be a problem. However, if you can find a platform that offers equal or better APR with a lower lockup period, it makes sense to transition over—just make sure the platform is well established.
Conclusion & Prospect
Right now I have my portfolio split between two major interest-earning platforms: CDC and Bitrue. Of course, I have 500 MCO staked which provides the best APRs for CDC, and I own a decent amount of Bitrue token giving me a better overall user experience when I use Bitrue. In addition, by splitting my portfolio between CDC, Bitrue, BlockFi, and Celsius Network, I am also dispersing my risk.
As with most lending and interest-earning platforms, CDC’s APRs have fluctuated quite a bit since their inception. Most of the rates have gone down, but I consider it a good sign for many reasons. More people are comfortable with putting their crypto assets onto platforms such as CDC. The lower rates could indicate higher demands for interest-earning platforms and is a way for the platform to remain sustainable—the rates are still phenomenal compared to what banks have to offer.
I will continue to hold a major portion of my portfolio on CDC to maximize my 500 MCO that I have staked. CDC stays current by continually adding more crypto assets to their platform and strives to be the best platform for earning interests. I recently received an email survey about DeFi (Decentralized Finance) products, which is currently a hot topic in the crypto community, from CDC.
After earning almost 10k USD of interest in under a year on CDC and the price appreciation of MCO, I can say that I am extremely satisfied with CDC and the services they provide.
Each week I will report on a different interest-earning platform that I use—mainly, Celsius Network, Bitrue, Crypto.com, and BlockFi.
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