HODL and Earn Program [vs HBD Savings]

While other countries are banning crypto, the Philippine government is at least very open to it. In fact, there is a centralized crypto platform that is fully regulated by the central bank here in the country and it had been available since 2014. Accordingly, it has over 16 million users to date and it is one of those easy channels where users can buy and sell crypto with as little as Php 5.00 or approximately 10 cents USD.

What is it?

Read on for a quick intro below.

CoinsPH

CoinsPH is a crypto platform with its own custodial wallet and it is the "very first crypto-based company in Asia to hold both Virtual Currency and Electronic Money Issuer licenses from a central bank."¹

Apart from providing an easy way for users to acquire and hold crypto or fiat, the platform also facilitate other services such as bills payment, sending or receiving crypto, stablecoin or the local curency to and from others and the like.

Admittedly, it's one where I used to acquire Bitcoin way back and it's also the same place where I spent most of the sats through the bills payment gateway.

For most Filipinos, it is the easiest on-ramp and off-ramp service provider between crypto and fiat.

HODL and Earn Program

This is a new addition to the platform's products which CoinsPH recently introduced. It is specifically for the stablecoin, USDC

Users who hold USDC in their CoinsPH wallets can earn rewards on a weekly basis.

Mechanics & Terms

• Open to all CoinsPH users who hold a minimum of 20 USDC in their wallets. Maximum amount to earn interest per user is 100k USDC.

• Rewards will be 5% per annum and are calculated based on the minimum holding balance between in the wallet Monday to Sunday and will be paid or credited directly to the user's wallet each week.

• Default payout currency will be in USDC but users can choose to receive in the local currency, Philippine Peso (PHP) by requesting it through an email to the support.

There is a disclaimer that CoinsPH has the right to cancel or change the program mechanics at its own discretion at anytime.

While this offer might be quite attractive to some users who feel comfortable in a regulated atmosphere, it is not for me.

I do like the other services that CoinsPH provides — allowing us an easy route between fiat and crypto but I personally do not keep any significant amount there. I'm only using it for my onramp and offramp needs and it's good that it supports various chains (Ethereum, BSC, Arbitrum etc).

USDC HODL Program vs HBD Savings

It feels awkward a bit funny to even compare these two but I just have to in the hope that anyone outside of Hive who may encounter this will learn about the edge of the Hive Backed Dollars (HBD).

The only challenge with HBD is the limited liquidity off-chain. But it can be easily swapped to HIVE which is more liquid both on the Hive internal markets and on centralized exchanges like Binance.

Personal Thoughts

I have never encountered an issue with CoinsPH ever since I started using it 8-9 years ago. No assets frozen or any suspension of withdrawals, so it seems the platform is at least very stable.

While the Philippine government is not anti-crypto, we never know what changes may come in the future. I do hope it will even be for the better.

The USDC HOLD and Earn Program of CoinsPH is still a good offer than keeping money in the bank, but being aware of HBD Savings, I would rather swap any USDC to HBD and send it to Hive for a better earning opportunity (higher APR and having full control over my funds etc).

I do like the fact that CoinsPH is adding more to its products and services, giving options to its 16M+ user base.