Crypto exchange Poloniex offers 65% APR on USDC deposits, but community cries foul 🚨 This article is 5 years old...
Crypto exchange Poloniex offers 65% APR on USDC deposits, but community cries foul
2 min read
Updated: Jun. 23, 2023 at 10:44 pm UTC
Cover art/illustration via CryptoSlate. Image includes combined content which may include AI-generated content.
Popular cryptocurrency exchange Poloniex shocked the crypto industry when they announced that they would be offering an unprecedented interest rate to users looking to engage in USDC and USDT lending, offering interest rates as high as 65 percent APR to customers located in the European Union.
The announcement of this new offering sparked controversy and led many figures within the crypto industry to cry foul, pointing out that it smells like a Ponzi scheme.
Crypto exchange Poloniex offers unprecedented stable coin lending rates; how is this possible?
The announcement of this insanely high APR on stable coin lending came about in the form of a tweet from the exchange on December 17th when they noted that USDT lenders can receive up to 8.5 percent, while USDC lenders can receive a whopping 65.46 percent. The exchange noted in a tweet while referencing the promo image below:
“EU customers: Got $USDC or $USDT? Get interest – Starting now, USDC & USDT lending is open for EU customers.”
It is important to note that rates of this magnitude are unsustainable, and it is highly likely that this is simply a marketing ploy done in an attempt to attract users to the platform and to generate greater liquidity surrounding these markets.
This potential marketing ploy also comes about as the crypto exchange faces a mass exodus of users, with its BTC supply plummeting over the past year, according to data from Coin Metrics.
“Poloniex’s supply of BTC and ETH plummeted after Circle’s acquisition, and are now at their lowest levels since early 2016. Check out more insights from our new exchange flows data in this week’s issue of State of the Network,” Coin Metrics said while pointing to the below chart.
Community is suspicious, questioning its plausibility
Naturally, Poloniex’s tweet generated some buzz within the crypto industry, with many investors questioning how this is even possible. Mati Greenspan, the founder of QuantumEconomics, said in a response:
“Wait a minute!! How are they able to offer 8.5% interest?? That’s way above what the market is currently paying”
Although it may seem like a Ponzi scheme at first glance — with some people saying that these interest rates are high even by “BitConnect standards” — it is probable that Poloniex will run these rates for a short amount of time just to draw in new users, before gradually lowering them back to a more reasonable level.
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Tether
$1.00051
Launched in 2014, Tether is a blockchain-enabled platform designed to facilitate the use of fiat currencies in a digital manner.
USD Coin
$0.99966
USD Coin (USDC) is a stablecoin fully backed by the US dollar and developed by the CENTRE consortium.
Poloniex
Poloniex is a US-based cryptocurrency exchange platform offering a wide variety of digital assets.
Mati Greenspan is the entrepreneurial mind behind Quantum Economics, a firm that specializes in FinTech research, advisory, and money management.