YouHodler Review 2021

Bottom line: YouHodler is an EU and Swiss financial platform that offers crypto interest accounts with up to 12.7% interest on stablecoins, 4.8% on Bitcoin, and 5.5% on ethereum, crypto-collateral fiat loans, and a series of innovative trading tools for beginners. In this review, I’ll cover everything you need to know about YouHodler’s saving, lending, and trading options.

YouHodler review: One-minute summary

YouHodler is a privately-held European cryptocurrency lending and trading platform founded in 2018. YouHodler is excellent for earning interest on cryptocurrencies and taking out short term fiat loans, and is among the top picks for both categories in 2021. Furthermore, YouHodler offers a simple mobile app and web platform that is suitable for most investors, including beginners.

Here are the top takeaways on YouHodler:

• Earn interest on cryptocurrencies: The YouHodler interest account supports 17 cryptocurrencies and stablecoins in total, offering up to 12.7% yearly interest with weekly payouts.
• Crypto loans: YouHodler offers loans in Euros (EUR), US Dollars (USD), British Pounds (GBP), and Swiss Francs (CHF), that you can receive by placing one of 20+ cryptocurrencies as collateral.
• Trading tools: Users can increase interest rates by taking on higher risks through YouHodler’s leveraged services, Multi-HODL and Turbocharge.
• Secured custody: YouHodler uses custody management solutions and has a $150 million pooled crime insurance from Ledger.
• Available worldwide: Their services are available to customers worldwide, except in the US and other restricted countries.

That’s essentially all you need to know about YouHodler. If you want more in-depth information about its products and fees, read the full review of YouHodler below.

About YouHodler

YouHodler was founded in 2017 by commercial finance expert Ilya Volkov and derives its name from the “HODL” meme, a slang term for holding a cryptocurrency for the long term.

The company is based in Switzerland and Cyprus and is an active member of the Crypto Valley Association where CEO Ilya Volkov holds the position of The Western Chapter Chair.

YouHodler uses Ledger Vault’s infrastructure to secure crypto assets with a multi-authorization self-custody management solution and $150 million pooled crime insurance.

YouHodler’s swiss arm is regulated and authorised by the authorities in the canton of Vaud in Switzerland and registered with the Swiss financial sector Ombudsman.

Is YouHodler safe?

Insurance policy

YouHodler has signed a $150 million pooled insurance policy via Ledger Vault, the business unit of Ledger and leader in security for blockchain applications. Ledger Vault provides coverage for different risks associated with using platforms like YouHodler, including hacking risks, and drastically reduces human errors, ensures system flexibility, instant access to funds, and has no scalability limits.

Cold storage

Like most other cryptocurrency platforms, YouHodler leverages hot and cold wallet storage methods. This means that user funds are stored both offline away from the internet, while part is stored online to meet everyday transaction demands. All cold wallet private keys are stored and encrypted within a hardware security module, and kept away from day-to-day employees.

3FA security

YouHodler also leverages 3FA security. Owners of accounts with balances over 10,000 USD or an equivalent in any fiat or cryptocurrency can disable all withdrawal options.

This security feature allows users to completely lock down their funds and disable all withdrawals until reversed manually. To unlock withdrawals, users need to pass an identity verification, and funds can only be paid out to the wallet owner’s address.

This is an exceptional feature if you don’t need access to your funds in the foreseeable future.

Dispute resolution

Users also enjoy additional protection from the Independent Financial Commission’s efficient dispute resolution process. In case of disagreement, users have the right to complain to the Association. The dispute resolution platform should provide quick, fair, and non-binding solutions.

Transaction monitoring

YouHodler also uses the services of CipherTrace and Elliptic. Both platforms closely monitor transactions on the loan platform, tracking and analyzing any form of suspicious behavior. Elliptical and Identity Mind offers AML compliant services to the loan platform.

YouHodler’s main services

YouHodler is a cryptocurrency lending, borrowing, and trading platform combined into one. All services are accessible through an easy-to-use web application and on mobile iOS and Android devices.

YouHodler allows you to earn interest on your cryptocurrency and take out fiat loans in against your crypto as well. You can also buy, sell, and trade between crypto and fiat pairs. Finally, YouHodler offers two higher-risk trading instruments, Multi HODL and Turbocharge, that allows users to bet on the price direction of a cryptocurrency.

Cryptocurrency savings accounts

One of the most attractive features of YouHodler is its various savings account options giving holders the ability to earn passive income. Users can deposit the following cryptos to start earning interest on their account right away.

Interest is accrued daily and paid out in weekly installments to your account. Rates vary, but at the time of writing the interest they give for Bitcoin is 4.8% (APY), for Ethereum 5.5% (APY), while stablecoins go up 12%.

Here’s what you need to know about the YouHodler interest account:

• Interest is paid out every week to your account.
• You receive interest in the currency you deposited (for example Bitcoin is paid in Bitcoin).
• You can deposit or withdraw at any time, without lock-up periods or special commitments.
• The interest rate is compounded.
• Interest rates are calculated annually (12% APY = 12% Annual Percentage Yield).

Fiat and crypto exchange

YouHodler gives you the ability to convert between crypto, stablecoins, and fiat currencies via your wallet. Before completing any purchase or exchange of currency, YouHodler will inform you about the current charges and commissions.

You can buy, sell, exchange, and seventeen cryptocurrencies, seven stablecoins, and four fiat currencies.

Loans with cryptocurrency as collateral

YouHodler is among the many new crypto lending platforms to offer loans in fiat currencies (EUR, USD, GBP, or CHF) or stablecoins (such as Tether, USDT) to users against cryptocurrency as collateral.

Loans can be requested with a maturity of 30, 60, or 80 days, with more than 20 different cons and tokens accepted as collateral.

Given the high volatility of cryptocurrencies, the longer the duration of the loan you want to request, the lower the maximum amount obtainable. This is because the value of the cryptocurrencies that you will provide as a guarantee could also decrease a lot in a few months, so the platform must protect itself against this eventuality.

Example: Let’s say a user owns 1 Bitcoin and wants to obtain a loan in fiat currency, in this case in dollars (USD). Without having to sell your Bitcoin, the user can provide it as a guarantee to the platform, and immediately obtain up to 90% of its dollar value, which can be used for his personal spending needs.

The minimum loan amount that can be taken is $100 and the interest payable is only required at the end of the loan term.

To repay the loan and its interest, the user has two options:

• Pay the requested amount in the currency in which the loan was disbursed
• Scaling up the consideration due from its crypto holdings

Guide: How to apply for a loan on YouHodler

If you intend to apply for a YouHodler loan, you’ll first need to first pass a quick identity check. As mentioned, your cryptocurrency assets will serve as collateral. In a very short time, you’ll receive the loan amount agreed in fiat. Once the loan repayment is complete, you get your collateral back immediately, and this will be possible even if its value has actually increased.

YouHodler does not carry out any credit investigations on the loan applicant, which means approval times of the practices are very fast. You just need to have enough cryptocurrency to cover the guarantee, and clearly have a verified account.

The platform has three packages with predefined terms:

• At 30 days with 90% LTV.
• At 60 days with 70% LTV.
• At 180 days with 50% LTV.

The interest rate depends only on the type of plan chosen and is not determined by how many guarantees you have provided to the platform.

In addition to repaying the loan, the platform offers three options to registered customers:

• Close a loan: You’ll be able to close a loan without necessarily having repaid it. The platform offers you the opportunity to close the loan without it being fully repaid, and in these situations, this loan can be extinguished immediately, simply by using what is the guarantee provided previously. Any excess cryptocurrency will be refunded to you.

• Extend and increase the term of a loan: When the term is close to expiration, you will also have the opportunity to reopen your account. This way you can further maintain your cryptocurrency with the same terms.

• Close the loan account: With an LTV of 90%, you will be able to receive the loan and withdraw with 85% of its value. In this case, there will be no consequences and you will not have to make any refunds.

Multi HODL

Multi HODL is a speculative trading tool developed by YouHodler that potentially allows you to multiply your earnings through a chain mechanism of loans, with a potential profit of up to 290% if you guess right, and a loss of up to 50% if you guess wrong.

The way Multi HODL works is that funds will be used to obtain a series of loans and invest this money in cryptocurrency in both bullish or bearish scenarios. If a cryptocurrency bull market competition occurs, the value of your tokens will increase exponentially, and profits will go directly to your account.

If the price drops, you will get back your initial deposit after subtracting the actual loss. (or vis-a-versa depending on which direction you choose).

Overall, Multi HODL works according to a process similar to margin trading and can be activated on all cryptocurrencies supported by the platform, without having to pay the costs of financial leverage.

Guide: How to use YouHodler Multi HODL

Here’s a quick primer on how YouHodler’s Multi HODL feature works:

1. Select an amount from your wallet. You need to choose the percentage of funds to invest in Multi HODL.
2. Select the level of benefit and risk and choose a direction you think the market will move (up or down).
3. You can close your investment whenever you feel that your profits are high. If not terminated, it will automatically terminate after 30 days or when the price falls below the loss level.

Turbocharge

Turbocharge completes YouHodler’s set of services offered and works according to the cascade loan mechanism. With Turocharge, you can give your cryptocurrencies as collateral to YouHodler to obtain a loan in fiat currency.

The money obtained through the loan will be used by the platform to invest in other cryptocurrencies, which can in turn be used as collateral to obtain an additional loan.

The process can be repeated up to 10 times, with high earning possibilities in the case of an increase in the value of the cryptocurrencies you are investing in, but also with a big risk of losing all the capital in the event of a decrease in the value of the cryptocurrencies.

How to use YouHodler Turbocharge

1. Transfer cryptocurrency to your YouHodler wallet and use it as collateral to get your first loan.
2. The borrowed funds are automatically used to purchase more cryptocurrencies to receive new loans. Repeat the entire process 3 to 10 times as desired.

By duplicating the collateral, you can get up to 6.5 times the initial collateral.

YouHodler fees and limits

Fiat currency

YouHodler imposes the following fees for deposits of fiat currencies:

• SEPA EUR: Free
• SWIFT USD: 25 USD
• SWIFT EUR: 25 EUR
• Credit: 4.7% fee

For withdrawals, the following fees are applied:

• SEPA: 5 EUR
• SWIFT USD: 5% (70 USD minimum)
• SWIFT EUR: 55 EUR
• GBP: 0.15% (55 GBP minimum)
• CHF: 0.15% (55 CHF minimum)
• Card: 3.5% fee.

Supported countries

YouHodler supports all countries in the EEA, as well as the UK and Switzerland, and most countries in Asia, Africa, and South America. Customers from the USA and other restricted countries and territories cannot use YouHodler.

More specifically, the citizens of the following countries cannot use YouHodler: USA, Bangladesh, China, Iraq, Pakistan, Crimea, Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Sudan, Syria, Afghanistan, Palestinian Territories.

Supported currencies and payment methods

YouHodler supports the following fiat currencies:

• CHF Swiss Franc
• EUR Euro
• GBP British Pound
• USD U.S. Dollar

And the following cryptocurrencies:

• ADA Cardano
• BAT Basic Attention Token
• BCH Bitcoin Cash
• BNB Binance Coin
• BSV Bitcoin SV
• COMP Compound
• DAI Dai
• DASH Dash
• EOS EOS
• ETC Ethereum Classic
• ETH Ethereum
• EURS EURS
• HT Huobi Token
• HUSD Husd
• LINK Chainlink
• LTC Litecoin
• MKR Maker
• PAX Paxos Standard
• PAXG Paxos Gold
• REP Augur
• TRX TRON
• TUSD Trust Token
• UNI Uniswap
• USDC USD Coin
• USDT Tether
• XLM Stellar
• XMR Monero
• XRP Ripple
• XTZ Tezos

Conclusion

YouHodler is part of the new cryptocurrency banking-like industry with savings and borrowing options to offer. The platform is great for long-term holders who want to build additional crypto wealth over time, or for investors who want to temporarily use their assets as collateral to secure a short-term cash loan without selling. Furthermore, YouHodler is an interesting choice for executing simple margin trades.

The mobile and web interface for YouHodler is intuitive, user-friendly, and secured through 2FA, but fees and commissions for trades and withdrawals can be difficult to understand. The mobile app had a few log-in bugs on Android but not something that disturbed the overall experience

In closing, YouHodler creates an opportunity to earn interest on cryptocurrency with highly competitive rates. The reviews that can be found on the internet are overwhelmingly positive about YouHodler, but you should remember that storing your crypto on an exchange is never as safe as keeping it on a private hardware wallet.