BlockFi Review

In this BlockFi Australia crypto review I will explore all that the BlockFi Crypto app has to offer. This includes whether BlockFi crypto is safe, if the interest rates are real and I will look into their credit card. This BlockFi Australia crypto review will also highlight the features, and pros and cons of BlockFi. I hope you enjoy this Blockfi Australia review.

What is BlockFi?

BlockFi are financial disruptors with a mission to redefine banking. The BlockFi app is a digital asset financial company that provides financial services to individuals and institutions globally. BlockFi is a cryptocurrency exchange that provides services such as yield, and loans.

BlockFi is a platform for people starting out in crypto and gives users the ability to buy and sell crypto. But it also has a simple method for users to earn interest on their crypto holdings within the BlockFi Australia crypto app.

Additionally, the BlockFi crypto app allows users to borrow USD, by putting up their crypto as collateral. Therefore opening up the world of lending to people that potentially could never have borrowed money previously.

BlockFi has to KYC all users onto their platform, however you aren’t required to have a bank account to use this app. This means the BlockFi crypto app is truly offering financial services to the unbanked. You can fund your account by transferring crypto in, therefore increasing the use case of De-Fi.

The BlockFi app is available globally, and works in Australia. The BlockFi Interest accounts are currently not allowed in America, however they are in Australia. Meanwhile, the BlockFi Crypto loans are available globally, including in Australia. 

One of the coolest features of the BlockFi app is their Bitcoin rewards credit card. This launched in the US and you can get on the waitlist for the card in Australia here. 

If, like me, you want to keep accumulating your crypto, then the BlockFi crypto app could be a good option. You can utilise the BlockFi interest account to continue to accumulate crypto. While having the functionality to trade or borrow USD if you wish. I hope you enjoy this BlockFi Australia review and find it helpful.

Who Created BlockFi?

BlockFi was created to provide financial services to markets with limited access to simple financial products. It was the brainchild of founders Zac Prince and Flori Marquez to provide BlockFi to the unbanked.

These two combined with the rest of the BlockFi team have an extensive amount of financial service expertise. Additionally they are backed by some heavy hitters in the digital assets space, including SoFi and Coinbase Ventures to name a few.

BlockFi Review – How Does BlockFi Work?

BlockFi Australia is similar my favourite Crypto platform, Celsius. The BlockFi app offers a crypto wallet, interest earning account and the ability to borrow USD with Crypto as collateral. Additionally BlockFi has a crypto rewards credit card for US users and a waitlist for Australian users. Celsius hasn’t released their crypto card yet.

Most people investing in Crypto will end up using lots of different crypto platforms. This is often for a couple of reasons, reducing risk across platforms, accessing different features or accessing better features. 

It is important to remember in Crypto, that unless you hold the keys to your assets, then there is a risk they could be lost if the platform you are using goes down. Cold wallets are the best place to keep your assets safe and secure. That being said, these assets aren’t working for you other than price appreciation.

That is where BlockFi comes in. This review of BlockFi will show its users have access to multiple features. Users can earn interest on their assets by keeping them in a BlockFi Crypto interest account. This will enable their assets to not only appreciate in price, but also accumulate some more at the same time.

BlockFi users can also borrow USD against their crypto held within the app. This is a great way to access fiat while not giving up your crypto holding. Another great feature is the crypto rewards credit card. This is available in the US, and a waitlist for Australians can be found here.

This BlockFi Australia crypto reward credit card will allow users to receive crypto rewards when they spend on this card. I would much rather receive crypto as a reward than frequent flyer points of cash. So I am pumped for when this launches in Australia.

 

BlockFi Review- BlockFi Features

See below for some of the awesome features that the BlockFi crypto Australia app offers users:

• Wallet
• Trading Account
• Crypto Backed Loans
• Interest Account
• Personalised Yield

BlockFi Review – Wallet

For any cryptocurrency exchange to function correctly users must be provided a wallet to hold assets in. The interesting thing here though, is that exchanges like Celsius and Coinspot provide just one wallet option. The BlockFi crypto Australia app provides two wallets, just like Swyftx does.

The BlockFi wallet is where your crypto will be kept if you are wanting to buy,sell or swap crypto. Any crypto held in this wallet will remain secure and won’t be used to generate any yield or interest. This wallet tries to act as an easier to use ‘cold wallet’ within the BlockFi app. Although remember, this is not the same as a real cold wallet.

The BlockFi wallet is an offering that is designed to go head to head with banks. For those that can’t get bank accounts, it is extremely simple to get a BlockFi crypto wallet. This means people will always be able to access somewhere to store and receive their digital assets.

Importantly, there are no minimum account balance requirements for this BlockFi crypto wallet. Nor are there any hidden fees to keep this wallet open, like there are with some banks. The assets held in this wallet are kept with the BlockFi custodians Gemini.

 

Trading

It is not very often that you will come across cryptocurrency platforms that will provide users the option to trade crypto and also earn crypto. BlockFi is one of the few that offer this, as is Swyftx.

The BlockFi crypto app provides users the ability to buy, sell and swap cryptocurrency. BlockFi Australia has 15+ of the most common cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Ethereum, Cardano & Polygon to name a few.

BlockFi doesn’t provide many options for Crypto trading, as its primary objective is around lending crypto and providing crypto yield. So this is something to consider, if you are wanting a larger variety of cryptocurrencies, consider using platforms like Swyftx or Coinspot.

However, if you are keen on generating interest on your more common cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. While still making a few trades on crypto like MATIC and ADA, then BlockFi may very well be the platform for you.

You can buy crypto instantly through BlockFi, either through a bank account or through your BlockFi wallet. Another great feature is to set up recurring investments in crypto. This allows users to dollar cost average into their favourite crypto. Similar to our favourite Crypto micro investing app Bamboo.

Crypto Backed Loans

BlockFi offers users the ability to utilise crypto backed loans within the app. A crypto backed loan is where you provide your crypto as collateral against the USD you borrow. For a BlockFi crypto backed loan you can borrow up to 50% Loan To Value (LTV).

What LTV means is that you can only borrow up to 50% of the value of the crypto you put forward as collateral. So if you put 1BTC as collateral and it was $50,000 you would be able to borrow a maximum of $25,000.

Crypto prices fluctuate a lot, so it’s possible that if the price drops your LTV becomes higher. This means you don’t have enough crypto to cover the collateral. BlockFi has a specific process for how they handle this. 

At 65% you will receive an email suggesting some action is taken. At 70% you enter margin call territory, BlockFi will generally give you 72hours to correct this. If it hits 80%, this is a margin trigger and you will receive an email stating your loan has defaulted and the assets may be sold.

With the risk of margin calls, why would you want to even consider a crypto backed loan? The main reason is that in the long term you truly believe the asset price will appreciate. Therefore if you need USD but don’t want to sell crypto and run the risk of missing out on holding the asset. Then a crypto backed loan is a potential option to solve this.

As with any loan there is a lot of risk involved, so make sure you are okay to consider something like this. The loans are funded the same business day as when the assets are received and there are no fees for paying the loan off early.

 

Interest Account

One of the awesome things about crypto is the high interest rates you can receive from either staking or lending out your crypto. It dwarfs what you would receive by leaving money in your bank. That’s why interest accounts have become so popular in crypto.

The BlockFi crypto Interest accounts are not available to US users, however they are for Australian users. All you need to do is transfer your crypto into your interest account to start accumulating interest instantly.

The rewards accumulate daily and are paid out monthly on the last business day of the month. This is a great way to have your crypto accumulating for you while you wait for the value to increase.

One thing to note here though, is that there is some risk through lending out your crypto. BlockFi will use these assets to generate a greater return, either through lending out to other institutions or some advanced trading strategies. So as long as you are comfortable with this, then it could be a good option to consider. Remember banks do this with your money all the time.

One great option with the BlockFi crypto app is the options of assets that you can earn interest on. Currently the other competitor is Celsius, however, they don’t have as many assets to choose from. So BlockFi provides more options, although sometimes offers slightly lower interest rates. But if you have assets like Solana, Dogecoin or Uniswap then this could be a good option to get some extra interest.

Another really cool feature about BlockFi interest is that you have the option to earn interest in kind. Or more impressively, have all interest paid in whatever currency you want that is offered on the platform.

Personalised Yield

BlockFi crypto also offers users the ability of personalised yield. However, this is only extended to High Net Worth of family office style clients. If this is you though, you have a range of options to get better rates. This is applicable for anyone with over $3million in assets.

You can negotiate and earn custom interest rates on the assets you lend to BlockFi. As well as being able to negotiate the terms of any crypto backed loans you want. You will have your own relationship manager and have access to custom spreads and trading strategies.

While some of us can only aspire to get to this level! It makes sense from a business point of view that BlockFi is offering this service. Additionally it adds more weight to the cryptocurrency market if large sums of money like this are flowing in too.

 

Bitcoin Reward Credit Card

I need to preface this section with a warning around credit cards. If not used appropriately they can cause serious financial harm. I love using credit cards to take advantage of the points and offers they provide. But I always ensure I have paid off my card each month so I never accrue any interest. Make sure you are in a position to do this before looking into credit cards.

The BlockFi crypto rewards credit card is a game changer in the credit card rewards space. It was the world’s first bitcoin rewards credit card. It provides users with 1.5% of their spend back in Bitcoin. Plus, for the first 3 months of use it offers an additional 2%, making the total Bitcoin reward 3.5% for the first 3 months.

There is no annual fee for the BlockFi Bitcoin rewards credit card. Additionally there are no fees on foreign transactions. Both of these points already make the card better than most credit cards, which have high annual fees.

I just love the idea of getting a digital currency as a reward, rather than frequent flyer points. Mainly because crypto has the potential to appreciate, whereas frequent flyer points often remain fixed or get devalued. So it is really cool that this card will soon allow Australians to earn Bitcoin rewards. 

The card is currently live in the US, and there is a waitlist for Australians. Eitherway, you can check out more on the BlockFi Crypto rewards credit card by following the link. A cool stat you will see, is that cardholders have earned rewards of over 120 bitcoin in the last 60 days. I can’t wait for this card to launch in Australia, so I can start getting Bitcoin rewards. 

 

BlockFi Review- Education

As many of my frequent readers will know I am quite fond of platforms that provide great educational content for their users. I even think it’s borderline irresponsible for platforms to provide a service and not provide educational content.

That being said, I am impressed by the sheer quantity of content that is available on the BlockFi Crypto blog. There are numerous blog posts ranging from all levels of crypto investors. Not to mention they provided a lot of interest posts explaining crypto backed loans, their credit card offering and more.

After reviewing the BlockFi Crypto app and their blog and education platform in general, I would say it has great information. Although I feel it could be presented in an easier to find and digest format. But I can’t fault BlockFi for the actual educational content they produce, it’s very helpful for users.

BlockFi Review- Fees

As with all my other crypto reviews, fees play a big part in assessing the platform, so let’s look at the BlockFi fees. The fees applicable on BlockFi are as follows, and it’s best to review if this is suitable for your circumstances. 

The BlockFi crypto app charges fees on withdrawals of assets. However, certain assets such as Bitcoin, Litecoin, USDC, USDT, GUSD & few others have 1 free withdrawal per calendar month. AFter this 1 free withdrawal fees will apply to withdrawal of assets, as seen in the image below.

Assets such as Ethereum, Uniswap and PAXG will incur fees for withdrawals, with no free withdrawal provided. This is likely due to the high cost of gas fees for these networks. Again, you can see the relevant fees in the image below.

BlockFi doesn’t charge any fees on deposits for your digital assets. Additionally it doesn’t charge any monthly fees or require a minimum account balance either. Another fee that you may incur is if you go for a Crypto backed loan with BlockFi. There is an origination fee of 2%, and obviously there will be fees if you don’t repay your interest.

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BlockFi Review- FAQ’s

Hopefully you are enjoying this BlockFi review so far. In case you had further questions regarding BlockFi Australia and what the platform is about I have compiled a list of FAQs below.

Can I use BlockFi in Australia?

Yes, BlockFi can be used in Australia. You can access pretty much all of the BlockFi functionality, except the Credit Card. This will be coming to Australia soon though.

Can I Trust BlockFI?

BlockFi utilises Gemini as the custodian of their assets. As a custodian of assets, Gemini doesn’t have insurance for assets like a traditional bank does. However, they ensure that the majority of assets are kept in cold wallets and have a 1:1 ratio. 

What Crypto Does BlockFi Support?

BlockFi is quite limited in the digital assets you can use. However it does provide interest in some of the more popular digital assets like Bitcoin & Ethereum. Other assets it supports are; LTC, PAXG, UNI, DAI, LINK, ALGO, BCH & DOGE. It also includes USD – based stablecoins such as; USDC, USDT, USDP and  BUSD. 

Can I Lose Money Using BlockFI?

As with any other investment platform, you can lose money if the asset depreciates in value. Similarly with a bank, when you lend money to them that does come with a risk. BlockFi doesn’t have the same assurances like a bank, but that is the risk you take for higher interest.

How Does BlockFi Make Money?

BlockFi makes money in multiple ways. Through interest from lending assets out, crypto mining, from spreads on investments and through institutional trading. It will also be making money on people not paying their crypto backed loans on time or interest on credit cards.

Is BlockFi A Wallet?

BlockFi provides a ‘Hot Wallet’ service to its users. This means their wallet is connected to the internet. If users want assets to be completely safe, then they should look into cold wallet solutions.

Pros & Cons

Pros:

• Crypto rewards credit card
• Crypto backed loans
• Earn interest on your crypto, including BTC & ETH
• No bank account required

Cons:

• Limited choice for digital assets
• Crypto rewards credit card isn’t available in Australia yet
• Can’t earn interest on fiat

 

Alternatives To BlockFi

While the BlockFi crypto app offers users some great features, especially earning interest on their crypto. There are a few alternatives to consider, these include platforms like Celsius and Nexo. 

Celsius is a great alternative to Blockfi. It provides users with the ability to earn interest on their crypto, as well as taking out crypto backed loans. Celsius also has a waitlist for a crypto rewards credit card and has no fees on deposits or withdrawals. They also have very competitive interest rates, on a wider choice of digital assets. Check out my Celsius Review if you want to learn more and see why it is a great alternative to BlockFi.

Another alternative to BlockFi, is a platform called Nexo. Nexo also offers interest on a similar amount of digital assets as BlockFi does. It also enables crypto backed loans similar to BlockFi. Nexo also has a crypto card that allows you to spend crypto, and earn a small amount back as rewards.

Is BlockFi Worth It?

If you are still reading my BlockFi review, then I think you will know what my response will be. BlockFi is definitely a great option for anyone wanting to earn interest on their digital assets. It’s also a great platform for anyone that is unbanked, as this provides a way to store your digital assets.

Given the atrocity happening in the world currently, having a crypto wallet is a great way to ensure you have access to assets. These assets can’t be frozen or re-called by Government intervention. This is the initial thesis of Crypto and it still holds true today. Therefore BlockFi is a great option for anyone worried about this.

If you pay for a lot of your bills on a credit card already, and don’t fly much. Then the Bitcoin rewards credit card is definitely worth it. I can’t wait to get my hands on this card and start earning Bitcoin for my daily spending.

With no minimum account balance and no monthly fees for holding an account. It is definitely worth signing up for BlockFi and testing it out yourself first. I think you will find it is worth it. Remember, the only thing you should consider is the limited amount of digital assets to choose from. If you require more assets look at Celsius, or if you want to trade lots of assets look at Swyftx.

BlockFi Review- Conclusion

If you want to live in a world where you don’t have to rely on traditional banks to earn interest and access your assets, then BlockFi is leading this change. It provides the possibility to make a crypto backed loan, earn interest on your assets and earn crypto rewards for spending.

BlockFi has limited crypto trading functionality as that isn’t the goal of the platform. Although you still can trade using BlockFi, there are better platforms around. What really sets BlockFi apart from other platforms is the crypto rewards credit card.

This BlockFi Bitcoin rewards credit card has had huge success in the US so far, and I can’t wait to get my hands on it in Australia soon. So if you want to earn passive income on your digital assets, or even consider taking a crypto backed loan, BlockFi is a great platform for this.

Sign Up Here

If after reading this BlockFi review you want to get started earning interest off your crypto. Or explore a bitcoin rewards credit card, then sign up Here and get a bonus on sign up!