11/28/2021 Update: Added CoinLoan.
One of the nasty things about crypto is fees. You get charged fees for selling, buying, withdrawing, and sometimes even depositing crypto. For example, Coinbase charges a nasty 2.99% fee for buying/selling crypto but the fee drops to 0.5% on Coinbase Pro (which is free to use as well). On the other hand Binance offers the lowest buying/selling fee of 0.1%, however Binance, like more or less all platforms, also has withdrawal fees.
https://accounts.binance.us/en/register?ref=55355434
In this article, I will explore some of the platforms that provide free withdrawal to some degree.
Who are these CeFi lending platforms for?
The platforms that tend to provide free withdrawals are usually the ones that encourage HODL by providing a nice APY to consumers who hold supported asset. The held asset is lend out to business clients (eg: Gemini lends to Genesis) or other users.
All but Celsius allow users to sell/swap coins but the spread will be higher than what you see on an exchange. This might be because the volume of sell/buy isn’t as high on these platforms; after all these platforms aren’t meant for frequent trading. Regardless, the ability to sell/swap is nice as it can potentially allow you to do so during a flash crash.
BlockFi
get $10 in BTC when you signup to BlockFi, fund your account, and maintain $100 of balance for 30 days.
https://blockfi.com/?ref=8f100f7c
/r/BlockFi | “Default” currency: GUSD stablecoin (coinmarketcap)
Pros:
- One free cryptocurrency withdrawal per calendar month and one free stablecoin withdrawal per month.
- No fee whatsoever in buying or swapping stablecoins.
- You can sell/swap coins.
- BlockFi is “commission free” so the only “fee” you pay when buying/selling crypto is the spread. Some articles on the internet claim BlockFi has an spread of 0.7-1.5% but according to this BlockFi rep, this number isn’t advertised by BlockFi. Here is a reddit post claiming to see a spread of 2.5-3%.
Cons:
- Withdrawal can take some time.
- Spread is a little high.
How to get money into BlockFi?
- by directly linking your bank account. No fee in buying or swapping stablecoins with stablecoins.
- by sending LTC to BlockFi wallet (minimal fee and fast transaction) and swapping to your currency of choice.
- by directly sending whatever crypto you wish to send (might not be cheap/free on the platform you are sending from).
Celsius
Join Celsius Network using my referral code 17120931ac when signing up and earn $50 in BTC with your first transfer of $400 or more of any crypto, including stable coins!
https://celsiusnetwork.app.link/17120931ac
r/CelsiusNetwork | Issues: CEL Token (coinmarketcap)
Pros:
- Celsius is the only platform that allows unlimited number of free withdrawals.
- Withdrawals are processed immediately.
- They are easily the ones that offer the best promos and signup bonus. I have written about the insane bonuses Celsius offer here.
- Their APY bonus is often very competitive.
- Pays interest weekly.
- Instant withdrawal.
Cons:
- You cannot sell or swap crypto within this platform which means you need to withdraw coins to an exchange like Binance.
- You can buy crypto within Celsius but it is done through third party and you may be hit with unattractive gas fees, especially when the market is very hot.
- Withdrawing any coin when locked into a promo, including referring someone, may cancel whatever payout you were supposed to get from the promo.
How to get money into Celsius?
I have talked about this and more in detail in this and this post but the essence is:
- by connecting with bank account through the app. In this post, you can see that I “only” paid $2.80 in fee for purchasing $400.1 USDC. However, when the market is hot, the fee can be rather silly.
- by transferring coin into Celsius. Platforms that allow you to withdraw for free are ideal. For example, you can connect bank account with BlockFi, buy USDC (no fee), and then use the free withdrawal feature mentioned above to withdraw for free.
Upcoming Feature:
- They are currently beta testing swap feature which is supposedly FREE. This should effectively cancel out the first con.
- Upcoming credit card [join wait list here]
r/CoinLoan | Issues: Coinloan Token (coinmarketcap)
CoinLoan
This is the best type of referral link for CoinLoan as it splits the reward 50:50. Typical referral reward is 0.2% of every exchange amount, 0.2% of every loan amount and +0.1% from interest account holding. I assume you get 50% of that.
https://app.coinloan.io/signup/?r=W78PP7
Pros:
- Looks like “unlimited” free withdrawal. There is a withdrawal limit of $500k per 24 hours rolling period [source: FAQ].
- Base APY is rather attractive. For example, 5.2% on BTC, 2.5% on ETH, 7.2% on ADA, and 10.3% on stable coins.
- Free wire into Coinloan. Funds can be instantly withdrawn.
Cons:
- Spread seems to be 2% which is still competitive to some other CeFi listed here but far from the best.
- Signup bonus isn’t all that attractive for short term holders.
- I think this might be the least known CeFi on this list.
- No ACH (although free wire option does exist).
Upcoming Feature: CoinLoan Debit Card [join wait list here].
How to get money into CoinLoan?
- by sending LTC or XLM to CoinLoan wallet (minimal fee and fast transaction) and swapping to your currency of choice.
- by directly sending whatever crypto you wish to send (might not be cheap/free on the platform you are sending from).
Gemini
Get $10 in BTC after you buy or sell $100 in crypto
https://www.gemini.com/share/6nxyqzqfe
r/Gemini | Issues: GUSD Stablecoin (coinmarketcap)
Pros:
- 10 free withdrawal per month.
- Practically best trading fees for a platform that has free withdrawal.
- Probably is the “most regulated” one this list. Unlike some of the other ones in this list, Gemini is in fact available in New York.
- Gemini Active as fee as low as 0.25% which is one of the lowest you will find in this list.
Cons:
- APY isn’t as good as others.
How to get money into BlockFi?
- by directly linking your bank account. No fee in buying or swapping stablecoins with stablecoins.
- by sending LTC to Gemini wallet (minimal fee and fast transaction) and swapping to your currency of choice.
- by directly sending whatever crypto you wish to send (might not be cheap/free on the platform you are sending from).
Hodlnaut
Join Hodlnaut using my referral code 8oz7KvOhG and earn USD20 equivalent after making a deposit equivalent of US$1,000 or more in a single transaction on any supported assets.
https://hodlnaut.com/join/8oz7KvOhG
select payout asset high interest in BTC and WBTC high interest in ETH and USDC
Pros:
- One free withdrawal per month.
- Amazing APY. Often the best among CeFi platforms. For example, 7.5% on BTC and ETH and 12.5% on USDC.
- Interest can be paid in any supporting asset. For example, your BTC holding can be setup to earn interest in ETH while your USDC holding can be set to earn interest in BTC. This is a very cool and unique feature.
- Referral bonus posts as soon as deposit is made.
- Spread is one of the lowest among the platforms that are listed in this article.
Cons:
- Only supports 6 assets (see this post for details on assets and APY).
- No way to connect to a bank account.
- Referral requires a single eligible transaction of $1,000.
How to get money into Hodlnaut?
- by sending one of the supported asset to Hodlnaut.
Nexo
get $25 in BTC when you signup to Nexo, fund your account, and maintain $100 of balance for 30 days.
https://nexo.io/ref/zb1ev3pbih?src=android-link
r/Nexo | Issues: NEXO Token (coinmarketcap)
Pros:
- One free crypto withdrawal per calendar month for base membership. Two, three, and five free withdrawal respectively for Silver, Gold, and Platinum membership. The latter of which, at least in my opinion, aren’t worth it for anyone in the US.
- Instant withdrawal.
- Can sell/swap coins.
- Additional APY (usually +1%) if you agree to lend for a fixed period of time.
Cons:
- You can’t buy coin with USD in Nexo. You can’t connect a bank account to Nexo.
- The spread is too high. Here is a reddit post claiming 3.9% spread, here is another calming to have seen 0.9% and 2.2%
How to get money into Nexo?
- by sending LTC or XLM to BlockFi wallet (minimal fee and fast transaction) and swapping to your currency of choice.
- by directly sending whatever crypto you wish to send (might not be cheap/free on the platform you are sending from).
Closing Thoughts
So why does free withdrawal from APY yielding platform matter so much? Various niche plays but here is one – buy stable coins at one of the above listed platform with minimal fee (eg: BlockFi), earn over 8% interest, and when you feel like trading for coins, do a free withdrawal to an exchange with low fee (eg. Binance), and then go on about your day.
Something similar also can be done for optimizing routine spend on the 4% card from Coinbase.