Hodlnaut vs Celsius – Which Account Is Better?

Last updated on September 20th, 2021

There are quite a few crypto lending accounts that help you to earn interest on your crypto.

2 of these include Hodlnaut and Celsius.

How are they different and which one should you choose?

Here’s what you need to know:

The difference between Hodlnaut and Celsius

Hodlnaut was founded in Singapore (2019), while Celsius was founded in New York (2017). Both accounts allow you to earn interest on your cryptocurrencies. However, Celsius offers more currencies and ways to earn your interest.

Here is an in-depth comparison between these 2 accounts:

Founder

Hodlnaut was started by 2 entrepreneurs from Singapore in 2019 to allow investors to earn interest on their crypto.

Meanwhile, Celsius was founded in 2017 and is based in New York.

Celsius is the much larger network with over 466k users. Meanwhile, Hodlnaut only has around 1000+ users.

Number of cryptocurrencies

Here are the different cryptocurrencies that you can deposit into either account:

Hodlnaut only allows you to deposit 6 coins

Hodlnaut’s offerings are quite limited as you can only deposit 6 coins into the platform.

These are the 6 currencies you can use:

1. BTC
2. DAI
3. ETH
4. USDT
5. USDC
6. WBTC

Celsius allows you to deposit 44 cryptocurrencies

Celsius has a much larger offering! You are able to deposit more than 30 currencies into their platform, which includes:

1. GUSD
2. LTC
3. BAT
4. XLM
5. UNI
6. BSV

Celsius has a much more diverse offering compared to Hodlnaut!

Buying cryptocurrency

You are unable to purchase crypto on Hodlnaut’s platform. You also can’t deposit any fiat currencies into Hodlnaut.

The only way to fund your Hodlnaut account is by sending your crypto from another wallet.

Meanwhile, it is possible for you to purchase crypto on the Celsius app!

You can do this via 2 ways:

1. Credit or debit card
2. Bank transfer

However, the fees that you incur can be pretty hefty:

Payment Provider	Fees
Wyre	0.1% (ACH transfer, US only)
Coinify	0.5% (manual bank transfer) 2% (EU credit card) 3.5% (non-EU credit card)

Unless you are staying in the US, it may be better to purchase your crypto on another exchange first. Then, you can deposit your crypto into Celsius from that exchange.

Interest rates

The main thing you’ll be interested in are the interest rates that either account offers you.

Hodlnaut provides you with interest based on the currency that you own.

However, Celsius allows you to earn interest in 2 ways:

1. In-kind reward (same currency that you own)
2. Interest in CEL token

Celsius allows you to earn a higher interest rate, if you choose to earn it in CEL tokens.

However, the option to earn in CEL is not available if you’re from the United States.

Here is a comparison between the interest rates you’ll earn for each of the accounts:

Crypto	Hodlnaut APY	Celsius In- Kind APY	Celsius CEL APY
BTC	6.2%	6.20% (Up to 1 BTC) 3.51% (After 1 BTC)	4.40%
DAI	8.3%	4.60%	5.78%
ETH	6.7%	5.35% (Up to 100 ETH) 5.05% (After 100 ETH)	6.35%
USDT	10.5%	8.88%	11.21%
USDC	10.5%	8.88%	11.21%

APY stands for annual percentage yield. This takes into effect the compounding interest that you earn on your crypto.

However, these interest rates are always subject to change. Hodlnaut will update the interest rates at the start of each month.

Meanwhile, Celsius’ interest rates will be updated on a weekly basis.

You may want to check the latest rates on either platform first to see which one provides the better returns.

Celsius offers extra rewards based on the amount of CEL you own

Celsius also allows you to earn even more interest if you’re holding the CEL tokens. This is based on the amount of CEL that you own in your Celsius portfolio.

Depending on the amount of CEL that you hold, you are able to earn even more interest!

How you earn your rewards

For Hodlnaut, the interest is accrued at the end of every day. However, it will only be credited into your account every Monday.

For Celsius, your rewards are calculated for each week, between Friday to the next Friday.

Your interest is calculated, and then paid on the following Monday.

Borrowers of both platforms

How can both of these platforms afford to pay you such a high interest rate on your crypto?

Hodlnaut lends your crypto to “established and vetted financial institutions” that are willing to pay a high interest rate.

Meanwhile, Celsius lends your crypto to their approved borrowers. Your crypto is also secured with collateral too.

Celsius also claims to return up to 80% of the interest that they earn from lending your coins. This allows them to offer such high interest rates to you.

Deposit

Both Hodlnaut and Celsius do not have any minimum deposit.

This means that you can deposit any amount into either account, and still earn interest on it!

When you are depositing money into either account, you will be given a crypto wallet address to send your crypto to.

You can send your crypto from any exchange that allows you to do so. Some examples include:

1. Coinhako
2. Luno
3. Gemini
4. Coinbase

It is very important that you only send crypto of the same currency to the wallet. If not, all of your crypto will be lost!

You will also need to make sure that the address that you’re sending to is exactly the same!

The string of letters and numbers are really long. If you make any mistake when typing out the address, your crypto will be lost forever!

As such, you may want to directly copy and paste the address instead.

No deposit fees

You are also not charged any deposit fees for either account.

However, you’ll need to consider the fees you’ll incur when sending your crypto from an exchange!

This depends on the exchange that you’re using, and some of them may be very hefty.

Some exchanges like Gemini allow you to withdraw up to 10 times each month without incurring any fees.

No lock-in period

Both Hodlnaut and Celsius do not have any lock-in periods. This means that you are able to freely withdraw your crypto any time you wish!

However, you may want to take note of the withdrawal fees that you’ll incur!

Withdrawal fees

Hodlnaut charges you withdrawal fees, based on the crypto that you wish to withdraw:

Currency	Fee
BTC	0.0005 BTC
DAI	3 DAI
ETH	0.005 ETH
USDT	3 USDT
USDC	3 USDC

Meanwhile, Celsius does not charge you any fees when withdrawing from your account!

As such, it may be more cost effective to deposit your crypto into Celsius. This is because you won’t incur any fees when you’re withdrawing your funds in the future!

Taking loans

Celsius allows you to take a loan on their platform.

Here are the currencies that you can loan:

Type of Currency	Currencies Available
Crypto	TUSD, GUSD, PAX, USDC, USDT ERC20, DAI
Fiat	USD

To take a loan, you would need to have some cryptocurrency kept as collateral.

The amount of interest that you pay depends on 3 factors:

1. The loan tenure (6-36 months)
2. Loan to Value (25% – 50%)
3. Whether you’re paying your loan in CEL or Cash

You can use the in-app calculator to determine the amount you’ll need to pay in interest.

Hodlnaut does not offer loans for individual investors

In contrast, Hodlnaut does not offer loans if you’re an individual investor.

Platform

Both of them use different platforms.

Hodlnaut is a web-only platform, although they intend to have a mobile app in the future.

Meanwhile, Celsius is a mobile app-only platform.

Even though Celsius has a website, you can’t login from the platform.

Security

If you intend to leave your funds with either account, you will be more at ease if they are secure.

So what measures do both of these accounts have?

Hodlnaut does not store your crypto on hot wallets

Hodlnaut stores your assets in a BitGo wallet when you deposit your funds to them.

Moreover, Hodlnaut does not have any hot wallets. This means that their crypto wallets are not connected to the internet.

This reduces the chances of your accounts being hacked!

Hodlnaut does not have any third-part insurance to cover for any losses. However, they stated that they have set aside some of their profits to cover any losses due to hacks.

Celsius is insured, but only for assets under their custody

Celsius does not disclose the security measures that they have.

However, the assets under their custody are insured by Fireblocks and PrimeTrust.

Your assets are only insured when they are under the custody of Celsius. Once they are loaned out to borrowers, your assets are no longer insured!

However, Celsius is a pretty well established company. Its services are available in more than 100 countries around the world.

As such, I believe that your assets should be rather secure with this platform!

Crypto lending is risky

The reason why both platforms are offering such high interest rates on your crypto is because this is quite a risky business.

Cryptocurrency is very volatile, and it may fluctuate in price by a lot!

The amount of crypto that you have in your portfolio really depends on your risk profile.

As such, you should decide if you are willing to take the risks when it comes to investing into any cryptocurrency!

Verdict

Here is a comparison between Hodlnaut and Celsius:

	Hodlnaut	Celsius
Year Founded	2019	2017
HQ	Singapore	New York
Number of Currencies	6	44
Buying Cryptocurrency	Unavailable	Available
Interest Rates	In-Kind	In-Kind CEL (higher interest)
Accrual of Interest	Every Monday	Every Monday
Deposit Fees	None	None
Minimum Deposit	None	None
Lock-in Period	None	None
Withdrawal Fees	Depends on Currency	None
Loans	Absent	Present
Platform	Web only	Mobile app only
Security	No hot wallet	Insured by Fireblocks and PrimeTrust

Both of these accounts are very similar, so which should you choose?

I am leaning towards Celsius, because:

1. There are a greater variety of currencies you can deposit in
2. There are no withdrawal fees charged

However, the interest rates may change from time to time. Hodlnaut may actually provide a more competitive interest rate than Celsius!

Conclusion

Both accounts allow you to earn extra interest on your crypto, which is similar to Crypto Earn.

In the end, it may not really matter which platform you choose! However since Celsius does not charge any withdrawal fees, it is slightly more advantageous compared to Hodlnaut.

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