Making Your Crypto Work for You: A Simple Guide to 'EARN' and the Best EARN Offers

Please note: This article does not constitute investment advice. Laws governing crypto, derivatives, and other forms of trading and investments—as well as taxation—vary by region and are subject to change. You are responsible for complying with the laws in your jurisdiction. Ouinex’s services and offers, including those mentioned in this article—if any—may vary by location and are subject to change. All investments carry risk.

Tired of bad interest rates on savings accounts? Switch to crypto. Even with stablecoins (or perhaps particularly with stablecoins that mimic the value of fiat currencies, like the US Dollar), you can earn a much higher APY.

How? By locking up your crypto (staking) or lending it out (EARN). Both concepts are often bundled under the term EARN.

Some platforms lure you in with the promise of a high APY…but then you find out it’s a 48-hour deal (you can only earn interest for 48 hours), or there’s a cap on how much you can invest.

These are things you need to know.

You also need to figure out how safe the platform is and how high a risk you’re taking.

So let’s break down what EARN and stake offerings are, what you need to know, and what the top platforms offer in terms of EARN.

Just want the best EARN offering? Jump to the comparison section.

Key Takeaways

• EARN is Staking or Lending: It’s a way to earn passive income by locking up or lending your crypto assets for a yield (APY).

• EARN Is Considered a Low-Risk Form of Passive Investment: Granted you use a regulated CEX that has good insurance policies, there have been CEX that have collapsed so always read up on the CEX and the fineprint for EARN offerings.

• Primary Risk Is Volatility: Crypto is volatile and your chosen asset’s price can drop significantly while locked up. Stablecoins, such as USDC that mimic the value of the US dollar, mitigate this.

• CeFi vs. DeFi Staking/Earning: CeFi (Centralized) is beginner-friendly and offers support, but you must trust the platform. DeFi (Decentralized) gives you full control but comes with greater technical risks and often volatile gas fees.

• Avoid High-APY Gimmicks: Promotional short-term (1-3 days) APYs and offers with low investment caps (i.e. there’s a limit to what you can invest) are marketing tactics. Look for platforms that offer stable, competitive rates over longer terms.

• No Deposit Insurance on Crypto: Unlike traditional savings, most crypto EARN programs are not covered by government-backed deposit insurance (like FDIC). Platform failure is a real risk so use a trusted platform.

• Ouinex Offers up to 10% APY on Stablecoins (USDC), without any investment cap and it’s for a long period, not just a few days. For more coins to choose from, Binance is a great option, but the rates are less appealing.

• Dual Investment Is Different from Regular EARN: Some exchanges now list “dual investment” as part of their EARN offering, but it’s agreeing to buy or sell a token at a specific price at a future date and comes with significantly higher risk.

The Basics of EARN and Staking: What You Need to Know

Is EARN and Staking Safe?

We will go into this in more detail later, but if you use a reputable platform that does not over extend themselves with institutional/uncollateralized lending and who has sufficient insurance then yes, it is.

The bottom line? Research the platform you use. Just because everyone else is using it doesn’t mean it’s a platform with a solid foundation. 

Does Investing with EARN or Staking Come with a High Risk of Losing Capital?

No, it’s a low-risk form of passive investment. That said, there is always a certain level of risk with any investment. Let’s have a closer look.

Staking is generally considered very low risk if using a reputable CEX (see the point above regarding whether it’s safe or not): The main risk is the value of the token going down during the staking (lock-up) period (i.e., the market value goes down and some cryptos aren’t very stable). With DeFi liquidity pools, there’s slightly higher risk (read more below).

Want to learn more about risk management? Read this blog. 

EARN offerings usually mean you lend your crypto to a third party and they pay an interest rate to the CEX that they share with you. It comes with slightly higher risk than staking, but is still considered very low risk. Granted you use a regulated platform. You do not want to make use of an EARN offering from some tiny unregulated exchange.

The volatility of crypto is generally considered the main risk, but if you invest in an EARN offering for stablecoins, that risk is mitigated.

Sometimes “EARN” and “stake” are used interchangeably. For example, on Ouinex we have the staking options under the EARN offering. 

Interest Rate vs. APY: Why the Big Number?

When you look at returns, you’ll see two main terms: Interest Rate and Annual Percentage Yield (APY).

• Interest Rate: This is the base return you earn, like simple interest. 

• APY (Annual Percentage Yield): This is the real rate of return because it includes the effect of compounding. Compounding means the earnings you make are automatically reinvested, and those reinvested earnings then generate their own returns, accelerating growth. This is why APY figures, especially in crypto, often look higher.

Imagine you invest $1,000 at a simple annual Interest Rate (APR) of 10% over two years.

• Year 1: You earn $100. Your total is $1,100.

• Year 2: You earn another $100 (still calculated only on the original $1,000). Your total is $1,200.

Now, imagine that same 10% APR but the interest is compounded monthly. Your effective Annual Percentage Yield (APY) would be about 10.47%.

• Year 1: You earn $104.71. Your total is $1,104.71.

• Year 2: The interest you earn is now calculated on the new, higher amount ($1,104.71). Your total would be $1,220.24.

The difference might seem small, but over time, and with frequent compounding (which is common in crypto), that extra $20.24 is the power of compounding: It’s the interest earning interest.

Quick Tip: APYs, especially on DeFi platforms, are highly variable and can change instantly based on market demand. Never assume a published APY is guaranteed, you have got to read the fine print.

The Two Worlds of Crypto EARN: CeFi vs. DeFi

One of the biggest decisions you have to make is whether you want to rely on an intermediary (CeFi) or on computer code (DeFi).

If you use CeFi, usually through a CEX (i.e. centralized exchange), you have a middleman (the exchange). That means you need to trust that exchange… and it means you have someone to hold accountable if things go wrong. With DeFi if something happens… there’s no one to hold accountable.

Let’s have a closer look at what it means to use DeFi or CeFi.
 

Which Comes with Higher Risks and Higher Fees: CeFi or DeFi?

Generally, DeFi comes with higher risk, especially for a beginner. While it removes the Counterparty Risk (the platform failing), it introduces Technical Risk (smart contract bugs/hacks) and requires you to manage your own keys, where a single mistake can mean total loss of funds. 

DeFi also often has higher, more volatile fees (gas fees) when the network is busy. 

For a crypto newbie, CeFi is often simpler, more secure (due to customer support/recovery options), and has more predictable, though sometimes higher, service fees.

If choosing CeFi you have to know it’s a reputable platform. Ouinex is a CEX and we’ve been through very long and complicated processes to become regulated by the authorities in various territories. But regulated doesn’t always mean fair, as we explain here. 

*A custodial wallet is one where a third party (like an exchange) holds your private keys for you. They guard your funds (i.e. they are the custodian), making it easy to recover a password, but it means you must trust them not to be hacked or go out of business (reputable exchanges have insurance should something happen). 

**A non-custodial wallet is one where only you hold the private keys. You have complete control and true ownership, but if you lose your private key or "seed phrase" (a list of words used to recover the wallet), no one can help you recover your funds.

***Gas fees are the payment you make to the decentralized network (like Ethereum) to get your transaction processed and secured on the blockchain. You can think of them as the 'fuel' needed for any action. They are paid to the validators/miners of the network, and their price changes constantly based on how busy the network is: When lots of people are trying to transact, gas fees spike dramatically.

Three Ways to Generate Yield: Lending, Staking, and Liquidity Provision

How can you get an APY on your investment? Whether you choose a centralized exchange (CeFi) or a decentralized protocol (DeFi), your assets are typically earning money through one of these core activities:

1. Lending (The Borrower’s Interest)

This is the most common model, used by CeFi platforms like Binance, OKX, and others.

How it works: You deposit coins (like stablecoins or Bitcoin) into an EARN program. The platform then loans these coins to other users who need liquidity or capital. The interest paid by the borrower is the source of your passive income.

The Safety Net: These loans are typically overcollateralized. This means the borrower has to lock up crypto worth significantly more than the loan amount (e.g., a $500 loan might require $1,000 in Bitcoin collateral). This protects the lender's principal.

So, in short: You lock your money up with a CEX, who lends it out to someone else that pays the CEX an interest. That interest is shared with you (and the CEX takes a small cut to pay themselves for the service, or else they won’t be able to keep running their business).

As the CEX holds more collateral than the loan amount, they are ensuring your funds are safe from borrower default.

The risk? The platform could go bust (extremely unlikely if they are regulated, and even if something should go wrong, have insurance to ensure nothing happens to your capital—though check the fine print, as most insurance only covers uninvested cash, not invested crypto). 

The market could also take a downturn, meaning the APY will go down. 

However, the biggest risk if using a regulated and secure platform is that the value of the asset goes down while being locked up (less likely with a stablecoin). As your funds are locked up, you can’t sell them off if the market suddenly goes down. That said, many platforms offer flexible terms, meaning you can withdraw your funds at any time. While the APY might be lower, if you can’t afford the risk of locking up your crypto long term, this is a great option.

2. Staking (The Network Security Guard)

Staking is native to blockchains that use a Proof-of-Stake (PoS) consensus mechanism, like Ethereum and Solana.

How it works: You “lock” your coins to help validate and secure the network. For this service, the network rewards you with newly minted tokens (inflation) and transaction fees (i.e. a percentage of what they earn when people do transactions). 

Key Advantage: Since you are locking coins to a decentralized network (often directly from your own wallet or via a pool), staking generally has lower counterparty risk than CeFi lending. Current APYs on established chains are often moderate, such as Solana (SOL) around 5% or Ethereum (ETH) around 2.69%, but this is at the time of writing and can vary greatly.

It is true that you can stake with a CEX like Binance, which is simpler and more accessible than setting up your own staking node. These are typically “custodial” staking services. 

Furthermore, some exchanges offer staking-like “rewards” for tokens that don't technically use a Proof-of-Stake mechanism (called off-chain staking or simply earn programs, like what Ouinex offers with $OUIX). 

These off-chain programs are essentially a way of reducing the supply of the coin that is actively being traded, which can help increase demand and price. Plus, by staking their native token, users are showing belief in its long-term value, which is positive for the community and for the coin's price stability.

3. Liquidity Provision (The Market Maker)

This is almost exclusively a DeFi mechanism, used on decentralized exchanges like Uniswap.

How it works: You supply two tokens (e.g., ETH and a stablecoin) to a “liquidity pool” to facilitate trading. When traders swap tokens, they pay a small fee, which is distributed to you, the liquidity provider. 

The Big Risk: Impermanent Loss (IL): This is the crucial concept here. IL is the risk that the price of the tokens in the pool changes drastically while they are locked. If one token’s price surges, the pool’s internal mechanism forces you to hold more of the token that did not surge and less of the token that did. The “loss” is the opportunity cost: The difference between the value of your pool position and the value you would have if you had just held the tokens in your wallet (HODLed). The loss only reverses if the prices return to the original ratio before you withdraw.

Comparing EARN Offerings: Which One Is Best?

Below you’ll find some popular platforms and their EARN offerings. Note that these numbers constantly change, but this gives a good overview of how EARN offerings are structured and how big numbers aren’t the only thing to look out for.
 

 Please note that some exchanges now include “dual investment” products under their EARN section. This can be misleading because dual investment isn’t a passive savings product at all. Instead, you commit to buying or selling a token at a specific price on a future date. Your payout is then made either in the token you signed up with or another token, depending on market conditions at settlement. So while it appears under the EARN category, it works very differently and carries significantly higher risk.

EARN Comparison Sum Up

If you invest just for a day, or week, your ROI (Return on Investment) is much lower than if you invest for a year. Short-term investments don’t give you a huge ROI. The big APY is basically just to rope you in. It’s a marketing gimmick.

If there’s an investment cap, you can’t invest as much as you might like and the big APY isn’t actually as big as it seems.

When we set up Ouinex we wanted to offer a stable APY over a longer period of time with no investment cap. We succeeded with that. You can earn up to 10% APY on USDC.

As for the OUIXPower, it’s dependent on how much you $OUIX you buy and stake (mainly), as well as your overall trading volume. But here’s the deal: Even if you are on the first tier, you get as good APY as the best of the other platforms: about 5-6%. 

And remember, this is not just for a day or week and there is no investment cap! That means, you can earn a lot more than programs that have an investment cap or are only for a day or week. 

We wanted to create an exchange that gives retail traders a good product. Get away from advertising gimmicks. It doesn’t mean we never use sensational marketing (we need to be heard and enjoy fun marketing stunts so long as they aren’t misleading) but it does mean we have products that have been developed to be the best on the market. And we do our best to reward our community in every way possible.

The Essential Risk Check for EARN

While the idea of passive crypto income is appealing, it carries specific risks that traditional savings accounts do not. Before you commit funds, ensure you understand the following:

Counterparty Risk (CeFi Failure): If you use a centralized exchange, you are exposing yourself to the risk that the platform might fail, become insolvent, or mismanage your funds. You are trusting the custodian. In such a worst-case scenario, any insurance they offer (like FDIC pass-through) often only covers uninvested cash, not the crypto assets used in the EARN programs. You become an unsecured creditor. However, some platforms guarantee your investment amount returned to you (principal protected). 

Volatility: Crypto prices are notoriously volatile. This volatility can reduce the value of your collateral in lending programs, trigger liquidation events, or complicate your returns. 

The High-APY Trap: Be extremely wary of platforms advertising unrealistically high APYs (e.g., anything consistently above 10-12% on highly stable assets). These high rates are often a sign that the platform is taking opaque, leveraged, and extreme risks with your capital to cover the promised yield. Or, more likely, it comes with an investment and time cap (i.e. max. Investment $50,000 for 24 or 72 hours)

Ultimately, the best approach is to align the platform’s strengths with your own goals. If you value simplicity and a massive range of options, Binance is a strong choice, but their APY isn’t great. If you want more advanced Web3 access and trading tools, OKX might be a better fit. If you want the best APY (and not just for a day), from an exchange regulated across four continents, Ouinex is the better option.

The Sum Up

EARN programs are a powerful way to put your crypto to work, offering far better returns than traditional savings accounts, especially when using stablecoins. While other tokens can have lucrative APYs, they tend to be more volatile (i.e. they can gain or lose in value very quickly), so they come with higher risk. 

You can choose the user-friendly but custodial CeFi route or the trustless but complex DeFi route. 

While the big APY numbers in crypto are exciting, always look past the sensational short-term deals and investment caps to find a platform that offers a sustainable, competitive yield with long-term security in mind. 

Dual investment options are not traditional EARN products and come with significantly higher risk.

Understanding the risks, from platform failure to price volatility, is your best defense against losing your capital. So long as you use a trusted platform, EARN programs are considered low-risk options for passive investment. 

FAQs (these need to be reworked, not happy w these, want other Qs)

Is staking the same as holding a savings account? 

No. While both earn interest, a savings account is typically covered by government insurance, and your money is stable (it doesn't change value much). Staking involves locking up crypto, a more volatile asset (meaning the value of the asset can change drastically) and is generally not insured. That said, it’s a low risk form of investment in that the staked assets are safe (if you use a good CRX), it’s just that the asset price might change while it’s being locked up. 

What is a “stablecoin” and why is it safer for EARN programs? 

A stablecoin is a type of cryptocurrency that is designed to have a stable value, usually pegged 1:1 to a fiat currency like the US Dollar (e.g., 1 USDC = $1). Because its value is not volatile, investing in a stablecoin EARN program dramatically lowers the risk of losing your principal capital due to market fluctuations. 

How do I know if a high APY is too good to be true? 

If a stablecoin (like USDC or USDT) consistently offers an APY much higher than 10-12%, it is often a sign of high, opaque risk. Or, more often, it’s a sign that there is an investment cap (you can only invest so much) and it’s for a very short time period (such as 24-hours). 

Competitive, sustainable APYs on stablecoins are typically in the single digits, or low double digits (up to 10-12%), especially from regulated, major exchanges.

Is "flexible" EARN truly risk-free? 

No. Flexible EARN means you can withdraw your crypto at any time, reducing the risk of being stuck in a lock-up during a market crash. However, the asset's value can still drop while it is in the flexible EARN program, and your funds are still exposed to platform-specific risks (Counterparty Risk). Meaning if something happens to the platform, it can affect you, but with regulated CEX this risk is minimal.