Intense Competition in Fixed Deposit! Taking Stock of Taiwan's Fixed-Rate "Cryptocurrency Financial Products"

Previously, there were various fixed and flexible cryptocurrency products available, categorized by operational type: decentralized finance (DeFi) platforms such as dYdX and Aave; centralized lending institutions and exchanges like BlockFi, Bitfinex, Binance. However, due to the rapidly changing nature of the crypto market, the loan interest rates on most platforms have significantly declined.

In March, as the traditional financial markets suffered a severe setback, the already fragile cryptocurrency market found it even more challenging to weather the storm. Although the overall market capitalization has returned to the levels seen before the major drop (around late February), the DeFi market is still in a phase of recovery post-collapse. Apart from the less attractive loan interest rates compared to before, the amount of locked Ether has plummeted to a low for this year.

Furthermore, for users new to cryptocurrencies, the user interface of DeFi platforms may still be less user-friendly. There is also hesitancy towards financial products introduced by foreign exchanges. In fact, local Taiwanese companies also offer a range of similar fixed and flexible cryptocurrency products, with annualized returns that are just as competitive as those offered by current lending platforms.

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A Review of "Cryptocurrency Fixed-Income Products in Taiwan"

This review covers cryptocurrency financial products in Taiwan, including low-risk, fixed-rate, deposit-like savings options (platforms like ACE Debt, BitoDebt, Blocto); as well as investment products with floating rates, potentially higher returns, and increased risks (such as Max X bincentive investment strategy, Steaker). The article includes "Pionex" as a non-local operator in Taiwan, included for its popularity comparison.

Why do some deposit-like products use debt as their name? Generally, debt carries the rights of receipt, claim enforcement, and enforcement, meaning debtors (users) have the rights to receive (money, interest, notes, cars), file claims, and enforce them.

For example, with exchange products, after purchasing debt products, debtors (users) legally retain the right to receive principal and interest from debtors (exchanges), without unjust enrichment. Typically, "money" is the most common debt subject, except here it has become a cryptocurrency.

ACE Debt Debt Relief Program

• Subscription Period: 5/14 14:00 ~ 5/28 13:59
• Interest Calculation Period: 5/30 00:00 ~ 8/28 00:00 (90 days)
• Annual Return: 13% / 14% (requires platform token ACEX)
• Minimum Amount: 500 USDT
• Fees: None
• Subscription Link: https://event.ace.io/2020/acedebt/

"ACE Debt" is a 90-day financial product launched by Taiwan's premier exchange ACE. The invested funds and interest are calculated in USDT. This is the highest-yielding financial product among all debt series products, and is currently open for subscription.

Previously, we introduced Bitfinex's margin lending mechanism, with loan periods ranging from 2 to 60 days, requiring users to manually operate after the loan expires, or use "lending robots" to maximize asset efficiency, which is less user-friendly for those unfamiliar with the process.

In comparison, ACE Debt has a 90-day interest period, eliminating the need for users to manually seek lenders on the Bitfinex platform, providing relatively stable returns. By combining with the platform token ACEX, users can achieve even higher annual returns (all interest returned in USDT).

ACE x Blocto ACE Value

• Subscription Period: 90 days: 6/1 08:00 ~ 9/4 08:00
  180 days: 6/1 08:00 ~ 12/3 08:00
• Annual Return: 8% / 10% (90 / 180 day plans)
• Subscription Amount: 1 ~ 2,000 USDT
• Fees: None
• Subscription Link: https://blocto.app.link/TIxROJyRo6

"ACE Value" is a financial product jointly launched by ACE Exchange and the Taiwanese blockchain technology company portto. During the promotional period, users who complete the subscription through portto's blockchain wallet Blocto App will receive additional Ethereum besides zero fees.

The blockchain wallet introduced by this Taiwanese team contains various DApp services, such as lending platforms, coin purchases, games, and more.

Although the interest rate of this financial scheme is slightly lower than "ACE Debt," the subscription amount is more affordable, and wallet registration only requires an email, without the need for KYC verification. In practice, the registration process can be completed in about 2 minutes!

Bito Debt

• Subscription Period: 5/21 22:00 ~ 5/23 21:59
• Interest Calculation Period: 5/23 22:00 ~ 6/06 21:59 (14 days)
• Annual Return: 8.5% / 10% (requires platform token Bito)
• Subscription Amount: 100 USDT per unit
• Fees: 20% of interest collected
• Subscription Link: https://www.bitopro.com/debts

"BitoDebt" is a financial product launched by the well-established Taiwanese exchange BitoPro. Its interest calculation period is 14 days, assuming users do not have the platform token, the annual interest rate is 8.5% (can enjoy 10% if combined with platform token Bito), investing 100 USDT yields only about 0.326 USDT in interest, after deducting a 20% service fee, leaving around 0.26 USDT.

In other words, with 100 USDT invested in "BitoDebt," the interest is not enough to cover even the mining fees. Even if the investment amount is increased to 500 USDT, after deducting a 20% service fee, only about 1.3 USDT remains, which is still insufficient to cover even the basic mining fees (for deposits and withdrawals).

While an annual return of 8.5% is a decent profit, users can ignore mining fees and continuously place a USDT sum in similar financial products on the platform. However, based on the product release schedule, the product cycle of the platform is not very stable. For the last debt product (8.5%, 30 days), the funds are locked until June 8, so users from the previous period cannot participate in this period's "BitoDebt."

This leads to low efficiency in fund utilization. Instead of placing funds in a product that has one period but no subsequent ones, it may be more beneficial to refer to financial products on other exchanges to maximize returns.

Chief Investment Advisory

• Subscription Period: Closes on 6/11, Starts on 6/15
• Annual Return: 10% (13 weeks)
• Subscription Amount: 3,000 USDT
• Fees: None
• Subscription Link: https://chiefinance.com/

Chief Investment Advisory is an encrypted currency asset platform created by a team with experience in U.S. P2P lending finance and DApp products. One of the founders is Benson Sun, former COBINHOOD business development manager.

Starting from the first quarter of 2020, they have consistently launched multiple USDT loan plans guaranteeing an annual interest rate of 12%, with a 6-month interest period. The latest plan offers a 10% annual interest rate with a 3-month interest period.

More Competitors

The above covers "fixed income" products. In fact, Taiwanese exchanges also offer products with floating interest rates, such as the Max x bincentive investment strategy in collaboration with a smart trading platform. Max is only an intermediary platform, with user funds mainly managed by bincentive, claiming a return rate between 5-20%, but losses of up to 20% and trade termination are also possible.

The digital asset management platform Steaker launched by Wilson Huang, Vice President of Product Development at Mithril, includes active deposits, floating rates, and high-rate plans, with its floating rate plan using "Steaker Robo-Advisor" for low-risk arbitrage strategies such as stablecoin lending and market making, with an estimated annual return rate of 1-17%.

Furthermore, Pionex's "Pionexbao" has been running since the end of last year, offering over 10% annualized returns in BTC. According to Pionex's official website, the returns are generated through "high-frequency arbitrage" on major exchanges using user assets, so if any "third-party exchanges" go bankrupt, Pionex explicitly states it will not bear any responsibility.

High returns in cryptocurrency investments often come with high risks. Pursuing high returns is not right or wrong. Assuming an insignificant amount of assets is invested in products with high interest rate fluctuations, this is also a viable operation. However, if high returns are pursued while having a very low risk tolerance, starting with "fixed income" products might be a good choice. However, this does not mean these products are risk-free; market factors, operator ethics, or regulatory intervention could bring about crises.

【This article is for comparative analysis purposes only, not investment advice. Please evaluate risks carefully】