What are the differences between Crypto.com and BlockFi? It is not an easy task to compare two crypto exchanges and tally them with your crypto interest account options which is why articles like this are very helpful.
In this article you will find two of the most popular crypto exchanges compared namely, Crypto.com and BlockFi.
This head-to-head comparison is made on different major and minor factors to make it more comprehensive and conclusive. Going through this article will surely help you to make the right choice in the end.
BlockFi is a popular crypto exchange that is considered to be a CeFi staple. The platform is great for beginners as it is easy to get started.
It has gained a lot of trust and reputation among the crypto community with its features and services that offer more than average yields across several crypto coins such as BTC, ETH, and USDC, just to name a few.
It offers an interest account as well as a credit card apart from an exchange to its users. All of these are paired together seamlessly.
On the other hand, Crypto.com is another popular crypto platform that is considered to be the pioneer in the crypto industry with its features and operations.
The platform offers almost everything that any crypto investor or trader expects it to, which includes an exchange, an interest account, crypto staking, credit card, NFT storage and more.
It is also known to offer the highest Annual Percentage Yield for its interest account but needs the users to undergo several hoops and hold a significant amount of CRO, its native token, in the wallet to get it.
Contents
11 Differences Between Crypto.com and BlockFi
Here is the full comparison of BlockFi and Crypto.com which includes everything from rates to security, from public trust to coin support, and lots more.
1. About the Company
BlockFi was founded in 2017 by Zac Prince and Flori Marquez with its office located in New Jersey, in the United States. It is created to cater to the needs of those users who are looking for buying, borrowing or earning interest on crypto assets.
It is also a good platform for enjoying other crypto services such as crypto savings accounts, DeFi crypto lending.
Within these few years, this company has gained a lot of trust among investors and traders, some of which are big names in the crypto and fintech industries. It includes Winklevoss Capital, SoFi, Pomp Investments and more.
On the other hand, the Crypto.com company was founded a year before BlockFi with its head office in Hong Kong. It targets those users who are looking for reliable and popular crypto exchange and a lending platform.
The other services that this platform offers its users include crypto savings account, NFT marketplace, crypto tax, crypto DeFi lending, and crypto wallet.
The original name of this company was Monaco Technologies but was renamed Crypto.com in July 2018. It grew quickly in stature as well as in trust among the crypto community especially after it was accepted into a cryptocurrency incubation program backed by the Hong Kong government in 2017 called SuperCharger.
It is led by CFO Rafael Melo and CEO Kris Marszalek along with some of the major names in the traditional finance and cryptocurrency sectors.
2. Interest Rates
When you use either of these two platforms to store your crypto assets you will be entitled to earn interest on them but differently.
As for BlockFi, the process seems to be much simpler than Crytpo.com which adds to the user experience as well. On this platform, you simply need to know the amount of the asset deposited in order to calculate the yield.
On the other hand, the process followed by Crypto.com seems to be much more complicated than that of BlockFi. You are bound to get confused by the rates of this platform which is determined on the basis of whether you opt for a flexible, or 1-month, or 3-month term.
Moreover, you will also need to own the native token of this platform CRO in order to get the highest interest. This rate will increase with the number of CRO coins that you hold on the platform.
For example, if you want to unlock the highest tier then you will need to hold CRO tokens worth 400,000 US Dollars, which arguably is unrealistic for most people.
3. Making Money
Both these platforms make money in different ways as well. As for BlockFi, they make their money by lending out the crypto assets you hold on the platform for a much higher rate than you are offered for holding the coins.
For example, if you are offered an interest rate of 7.5% on USDT, the platform may lend it out at 12% to others. And, since all these loans are over-collateralized therefore the risks of default and non-payment are comparatively low.
On the other hand, Crypto.com makes money both by lending and exchanging coins. Though the loaning system is pretty similar to that of BlockFi, the exchange fee structure is pretty complex, if not high for crypto trading.
It involves a maker/taker fee structure wherein the maker fee ranges between 0.036% and 0.1% and the taker fees can be anywhere between 0.090% and 0.16%.
4. Payments and Withdrawals
When it comes to the payouts on BlockFi, the interest earned is typically calculated and accrued on a daily compounded basis but it is paid out every month.
This is unlike most of its competitors who pay interest daily. Moreover, this platform allows the users to make only one crypto and stablecoin withdrawal for free in a month. For every additional withdrawal, you will have to pay a fee.
In comparison, Crypto.com pays out the interest on a daily basis and it is not calculated at a compound rate. However, you should be aware of the fees charged.
The platform will charge you fees for making any and every withdrawal that is typically completed on the blockchain. You can however evade these fees by using the withdraw to app function offered by the platform.
And, if you send crypto coins to any other user of Crypto.com, then also you do not have to pay any fees.
5. Security
Both the platforms however take the security aspect of the funds of the users pretty seriously by offering a 2FA feature and FDIC insurance as well. It is for this reason neither of them has had any serious breaches to date that may impact the funds of the users.
As for BlockFi, 95% of the funds of the users are held safely in cold storage. This is actually managed by Gemini which is known for safety and owns a SOC certificate from Deloitte. As for the remaining portion, it is held in a hot wallet but is insured.
As for Crypto.com, they conduct audits of the platform and the accounts on a regular basis by Bureau Veritas. In addition to that, it also stores the major portion of the funds of their clients in cold storage for which they rely on Ledger, their partner.
There are also several hardware security modules in place to ensure ultimate security along with multi-signature technologies that keep the crypto assets safe.
6. Ease of Use
When it comes to the ease of use of the two platforms, BlockFi seems to have a slight edge over Crypto.com. You hardly have to do anything apart from moving your funds to the platform and sitting back. The interest will start accumulating by itself.
In comparison, the Crypto.com users can also do that but in that case they will not get the best possible rates.
In order to do that, the users of this platform need to purchase a significant amount of CRO tokens and hold them on the platform and also need to lock their funds up. This adds a new element of risk to the equation.
7. Core Features
Some of the main features of the BlockFi platform that differentiate it from Crypto.com include its ability to make decisions on loans almost instantly with no credit checks made.
This is over and above its competitive rate of interest offered on loans. Add to that, it also offers savings accounts as well as loans on Bitcoin, Litecoin, Ethereum, and GUSD.
In comparison, the distinctive core features of the Crypto.com platform include its offer of 5% cashback as a reward to the users who use their debit card as well as the ability to earn interest on a larger and more varied set of crypto coins.
Apart from that, the platform also offers interest as high as 18% when the users stake their CRO tokens.
8. Unique Aspects
There are also a few other unique aspects of these two platforms. As for BlockFi, it is considered to be one of the first platforms that introduced crypto loans and crypto savings accounts.
This enabled them to experience instant success which was further facilitated by the very competitive rate of interest the platform offers.
As for Crypto.com, the unique aspect of it is that it is considered to be one of the closest semblances to a bank but is crypto-based.
The platform offers its users a large and varied range of services and products that are usually offered by a bank, but is limited to the crypto industry.
9. Crypto Credit Card
Crypto.com and BlockFi both offer a cryptocurrency credit card that allows the users to earn interest in crypto coins on the purchases that they make every day.
However, the crypto credit card of BlockFi is much easier to use as compared with that of Crypto.com. It is also free for the users to apply for and does not carry an annual fee. Most importantly, it is very simple to get the maximum advantage out of this card.
On the other hand, the credit card of Crypto.com comes with several different variations and tiers. The rewards that the users can gain by using this card ranges anywhere between 1% and 8% but everything is dependent on the number of CRO coins that you hold on the platform.
Typically, you will need to hold a minimum of $400,000 worth of CRO tokens in order to get the highest rate of interest.
10. Customer Support
In terms of providing customer support BlockFi offers live phone support. This option is typically available from 9:30 in the morning to 5 in the evening, EST.
In addition to that, the platform also comes with an intuitive and comprehensive FAQ page on the website that includes all the answers to some of the most common questions users have regarding crypto.
On the other hand, the Crypto.com platform offers support to the customers via a Help Center. All answers to the most common questions are provided via this Help Center in addition to the email support that the platform offers to its users.
11. Few Other Differences
It will also be good to know some of the smaller differentiating parameters of these two platforms.
The Crypto.com platform offers its native tokens and that too in two variants MCO and CRO. However, on the other hand, the BlockFi platform does not have any tokens of its own.
As for the minimum deposit requirements, Crypto.com needs its users to make one while BlockFi does not have such restrictions.
Which is Better – Crypto.com or BlockFi?
Though it is not easy to answer this question but still based on the above differences, you may tend to think that BlockFi is better simply because it is much easier to use than Crypto.com, and in all respects.
As for Crypto.com, you will need to hold the native coins to earn the highest returns and even its crypto credit card is not easy to use as well.
Most importantly, there is a certain amount of risk involved in holding the coins on a platform, which you are well aware of.
However, if you are okay with the risk factor as well as other inconveniences of the platform, then Crypto.com is the go-to platform for you.
The benefit of it is that you will be able to earn the highest yield in the industry of the CeFi crypto interest account when you max out the number of tokens held and the lock-up period expires.
There is another thing about the Crytpo.com platform in comparison to BlockFi that may not be much to your liking, which is it will need you to make some minimum deposits in order to earn interest rates.
However, Crypto.com pays interest every day but BlockFi pays them on the first day of every month and it uses a secure vault technology to ensure the security of transactions but as opposed to third-party custodians used by BlockFi.
Based on the features of the two platforms, Crypto.com offers different useful products such as:
- Secure payment channels
- Trading products and
- Financial services
It is also a platform that offers its users complete control over their data as well as their money.
On the other hand, the BlockFi platform offers its products only to US citizens and is regulated by Federal laws. However, it offers adequate support to the top investors.
Add to that, the number of crypto coins supported by Crypto.com is much more in comparison to that of BlockFi.
The most unique aspect of Crypto.com is that each of these types of crypto coins has fixed interest rates.
On the other hand, the crypto coins supported by BlockFi have a variable rate of interest that is dependent on the market condition.
There is also another significant benefit of using the Crypto.com platform, in spite of the risk involved.
This platform will allow you to buy crypto coins very easily with the use of your fiat wallet.
This specific feature of this platform makes it one of the most convenient crypto platforms available out there to purchase and hold crypto assets.
But, there is a catch. You will need to lock those coins for a period ranging anywhere from 1 to 3 months on the platform.
Therefore, you will not be able to withdraw your crypto coins freely any time you want as you would on BlockFi.
This means that, in terms of flexibility, the BlockFi platform beats Crypto.com.
Add to that, on the BlockFi platform you will be allowed to make a free withdrawal every month which means that you will be, in turn, able to lower the costs incurred in it since most of the withdrawal fees are pretty hefty.
Therefore, to conclude, it can be said in a few words that BlockFi is a good platform to go to for a loan, ROI on BTC, and a savings account.
On the other hand, the Crypto.com platform is good for stablecoins, a useful card, as well as other useful additional products and services.
Conclusion
Both these platforms, BlockFi and Crypto.com, come with significant differences which one should know in order to choose the right platform based on their crypto goals. This article will surely help you in that if you are not aware of them.
I have special interest in crypto and intend to help common people to gain knowledge about the digital asset as well as its potential. Follow Me at Linkedin.
