The cryptocurrency space is still largely dominated by the original king of crypto in Bitcoin, but a few newer entrants have carved out strong followings of their own. Among them is Chainlink (LINK), which had a monster year in 2020, skyrocketing in price by over 500%.
Now, investors in Chainlink have a new way to earn interest on their holdings.
BlockFi announced the news via Twitter today, indicating that it plans to offer up to 5.5% APY on LINK deposits. Interest on those deposits will be paid in Chainlink tokenstokens.
BlockFi, founded in 2017, offers interest of up to 8.6% APY on different cryptocurrencies including Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Litecoin, as well as deposits of dollar-pegged stablecoinsstablecoins such as Tether (USDT) and Centre’s USDC.
To generate yields, BlockFi lends out deposited assets to business clients and other institutional-grade investors. BlockFi also manages an over-the-counter Bitcoin trading desk and recently filed documents with the SEC to launch a Bitcoin Trust similar to existing offerings from leading digital asset management firm Grayscale.
Chainlink provides a network of “oracles,” or external data providers supplying information on asset prices and other variables to smart contractssmart contracts, automated blocks of code that run using blockchainblockchain networks like Ethereum. Smart contracts rely on oracles to provide data about off-chain events, making Chainlink (and competing oracle providers like API3) a critical part of operating decentralized financedecentralized finance protocols.
Decentralized finance, also known as DeFi, represents a collection of protocols designed to replace the products and services typically offered by banks and other financial institutions with blockchain-based equivalents. DeFiDeFi users can get loans, swap assets, and earn interest on crypto deposits, all without relying on a centralized third-party to facilitate the activity.
Both BlockFi and Chainlink experienced explosive growth in 2020, with BlockFi’s assets under management increasing 1,500% to more than $4 billion. On top of the 500% jump that LINK enjoyed last year, Chainlink prices have continued to go up in 2021: the asset is up 140% since January 1.
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author are for informational purposes only and do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice.
Daily Debrief Newsletter
Start every day with the top news stories right now, plus original features, a podcast, videos and more.
Stripe is making a renewed push into crypto and artificial intelligence, unveiling a slate of new features at its annual user event on Wednesday in San Francisco.
Two major updates include the rollout of Stablecoin Financial Accounts, which will allow businesses in 101 countries to hold balances in dollar-backed stablecoins, receive funds via crypto or traditional rails, and send stablecoins globally.
It also rolled out a new Payments Foundation Model, an AI system trained on tens of billions of...
DeFi Development Corp., a publicly traded real estate software firm turned crypto holding vehicle, said Wednesday it will execute a 7-for-1 stock split later this month, capping a frenetic pivot into the Solana blockchain ecosystem that has fueled a staggering rally in its share price.
The split, approved by the board and pending regulatory steps, will take effect May 20.
Shareholders of record as of May 19 will receive six additional shares for each share they hold, increasing outstanding shar...
Visa announced another crypto venture this week, revealing an investment in stablecoin infrastructure company BVNK.
London-based BVNK announced the “strategic investment” from Visa via the payment giant’s Visa Ventures arm. It did not reveal the size of the investment, but said it came following the firm’s $50 million Series B round in December.
BVNK says it’s building a “real time, 24-7, 365 payments network” for businesses using blockchains.
Only last week, Visa announced that it was partne...