Decentralized Finance (DeFi) has unlocked significant opportunities for growth, yet its complexities often deter retail users. Traditional crypto investments, while promising, lack intelligent risk management tools, making them risky for the average investor. The high volatility and limited instruments for mitigating these risks have kept many from fully engaging in the crypto markets. DeFi, however, can revolutionize this landscape by providing more accessible, efficient, and secure financial solutions. Yield App addresses these challenges, offering an intuitive platform that simplifies DeFi for retail users, combining automation, aggregation, and professional management to optimize returns.

What is Yield App (YLD)?

Yield App (YLD) was conceived to offer users an intuitive, high-return digital asset wealth platform, focusing on the secure custody of digital assets. The platform aims to bridge the decentralized finance (DeFi) ecosystem and broader digital asset management sector. Recognizing the complexities of navigating crypto assets, Yield App’s mission is to simplify these processes for all users, making high-yield opportunities accessible regardless of financial expertise.

Founded by Tim Frost, Yield App’s team comprises professionals with over 100 years of combined experience in fintech and traditional finance. Tim Frost, the founder and CEO, has been involved in the blockchain industry since 2015, previously serving as Channel Partner Director at EQIBank. He has built and incubated several high-growth fintech companies, including digital asset payment provider WIREX. The team is strengthened by Justin Wright, CFO/COO, who co-chairs the Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) DeFi Working Group and has 25 years of experience in investment banking and funds management. Lucas Kiely, the Chief Investment Officer (CIO), brings over two decades of experience in traditional financial institutions and has managed $14 billion of risk capital across 44 funds at leading investment banks.

Yield App’s development began with a private controlled release in November 2020 for QA testing. The Alpha version, supporting USDT/USDC deposits, launched in December 2020. The Beta version, allowing fiat deposits and withdrawals, was released in early 2021. Subsequent updates included mobile apps, partnerships with exchanges, support for multiple assets, and fiat wallets. By late 2021, Yield App introduced banking features like debit cards and interest-bearing accounts.

Yield App operates under a banking license issued by the Mwali International Services Authority. Yield Asset Management Limited, a regulated brokerage and clearing house, manages its financial strategy. The founding team is committed to international financial inclusion, accessibility, and sustainability, aiming to enhance clients’ financial freedom and well-being through innovative DeFi solutions.

How Does Yield App Work? Earn Products and Tech Architecture

Yield App offers various products to help users earn interest on their crypto assets. To start earning, users must create an account on the Yield App, complete the KYC verification, and deposit crypto or fiat into their account. Once the funds are in place, users can choose from three core Earn products: Flexible, Earn+, and Earn+ 365, each with different terms and rates to suit various investment strategies.

The Flexible product allows users to redeem their assets anytime, making it ideal for those who prefer liquidity. It is available for ETH and stablecoins and offers competitive interest rates. Users can start earning daily interest immediately after selecting this product. The Earn+ product, on the other hand, requires a 30-day redemption period but provides higher interest rates than the Flexible product. This makes it suitable for users willing to lock their assets for a short period to gain better returns.

The Earn+ 365 product offers the highest interest rates on the platform and requires a one-year lock-up period, exclusively for Diamond Tier users. This product supports assets such as BTC, ETH, and stablecoins. By locking their assets for a year, users in this tier can maximize their earnings, making it an attractive option for long-term investors seeking significant returns.

To select the desired fund, users can access the Dashboard page on the Yield App platform, click on the chosen asset line to open the Asset page, and then choose the fund they wish to deploy. Each fund type has an “Earn” button for easy activation. The platform calculates rewards every 24 hours, which are automatically compounded back into the same portfolio. Users can view their earnings on the Transactions page.

Redeeming assets from Earn+ and Earn+ 365 products requires waiting until the end of the lock-up period. For Earn+, assets will be available 30 days after the redemption request. For Earn+ 365, the assets are locked for a full year. Early redemption from these portfolios results in the forfeiture of rewards.

Source: yield.app

Yield App’s diverse range of Earn products, each with varying degrees of flexibility and interest rates, caters to different investor needs, providing short-term liquidity and long-term growth opportunities. Users benefit from an intuitive platform that simplifies earning interest on crypto assets. Next, we will delve into the technical architecture that supports these products, including the portfolio manager and other key components.

Tech Architecture

The Yield App leverages a sophisticated tech architecture, centered around its Portfolio Management Engine, to manage and optimize its investment strategies in the dynamic DeFi market. This engine focuses on Security, Flexibility, and Agility to ensure robust and high-performing financial management.

Security is paramount in Yield App’s operations. All protocols interfacing with the platform undergo thorough audits using smart contract auditing tools like Echidna, MythX, Securify, and Slither. These rigorous audits help pre-whitelist potential investment targets, ensuring a secure investment environment. By maintaining stringent security measures, the Yield App protects user assets while navigating the complex DeFi landscape.

Flexibility is another critical component of the Portfolio Management Engine. Yield App achieves high returns by investing early and securely in new protocols. The platform’s proprietary DeFi Portfolio Management System allows direct interaction with various protocols’ native UIs, enabling rapid adaptation to market changes. This flexibility ensures that Yield App can seize early investment opportunities while maintaining a secure and efficient operational framework.

Agility gives Yield App a competitive edge by leveraging blockchain transparency to predict market trends. The platform can monitor publicly visible votes from DAOs and other decentralized protocols, allowing it to anticipate changes and make informed investment decisions. Additionally, the YieldScore system provides automated risk ratings for different protocols, enhancing decision-making processes and enabling early, profitable investments while maintaining high safety levels.

The Portfolio Management Engine continuously runs proprietary risk analysis algorithms and collects market signals from diverse data streams. This real-time data collection and analysis empower the Investment Managers to deploy high-return strategies effectively. The development roadmap of the Portfolio Management Engine follows a three-tier approach: data collection and analysis to inform decisions (Tier 1), continuous investment strategies production against real-time data (Tier 2), and fully automated capital deployment with multi-signature authorization for investment allocations (Tier 3).

Source: yield app whitepaper

The Portfolio Risk Framework is integral to Yield App’s strategy. It provides individual risk ratings through the YieldScore system, which incorporates security and financial analyses. This real-time updated data mitigates risks at the security auditing and investment opportunity levels.

In conclusion, Yield App’s tech architecture, particularly the Portfolio Management Engine, is designed to provide a secure, flexible, and agile investment platform. This sophisticated system enables Yield App to manage high-return investment strategies effectively. Next, we will explore the comprehensive backend data flows that support these operations, including the client web application and the Asset Manager web application integration with off-chain databases and ETH nodes through various micro-services.

Yield App Use Cases

Yield App provides an accessible and robust platform for retail users to engage with decentralized finance (DeFi) and earn stable returns on their crypto assets. By leveraging a user-friendly interface and advanced portfolio management tools, Yield App simplifies the complexities of DeFi, making it an attractive option for various financial activities.

• High-Yield Savings Accounts: Yield App offers users the ability to deposit their crypto assets into high-yield savings accounts. These accounts provide competitive annual percentage yields (APYs) on stablecoins and major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. By locking their assets in these accounts, users can earn daily compounded interest, maximizing their returns without needing extensive financial expertise or active management.
• Portfolio Diversification: For users looking to diversify their crypto investments, Yield App’s platform offers multiple earning products, such as Flexible, Earn+, and Earn+ 365. Each product caters to different investment horizons and risk appetites. Flexible accounts allow users to redeem their assets anytime, while Earn+ and Earn+ 365 offer higher returns for assets locked for 30 days or a year, respectively. This flexibility helps users manage their risk while optimizing their investment strategies.
• Automated Investment Strategies: Yield App’s advanced Portfolio Management Engine employs automated strategies to manage users’ investments. By analyzing real-time market data and leveraging smart contract audits, the platform ensures that funds are allocated to the most secure and profitable DeFi protocols. This automation minimizes user involvement and reduces the risks associated with manual investment decisions, providing a seamless and efficient investment experience.

In conclusion, Yield App democratizes access to high-yield DeFi opportunities, allowing users to benefit from competitive savings rates, diversified investment options, and automated portfolio management. By simplifying the complexities of DeFi, Yield App empowers retail investors to achieve stable and consistent returns on their crypto assets.

What is the YLD Coin?

YLD is Yield App’s native token, used for rewards, governance, and boosting investment returns. Its maximum supply is capped at 300 million units, of which 265.5 million (88.50%) are already in circulation (June 2024).

The YLD Coin plays a central role in the platform’s loyalty and rewards program. By staking YLD tokens, users can unlock various exclusive benefits, including higher annual percentage yields (APY), access to the Yield App Angel Launchpad, and VIP support for Diamond Tier members. With rates up to 15% APY and up to 25% for Locked H1 staking, YLD offers attractive incentives for investors.

YLD tokens can be easily acquired through the Yield App’s Swap feature or third-party exchanges. This streamlined process allows users to purchase YLD directly from the platform, making it convenient and efficient. Yield Bank Limited, which operates under a restricted Banking License issued by the Mwali International Services Authority, manages the YLD token, ensuring that tokens held by users remain their own and cannot be pledged.

YLD also serves as a gateway utility token, allowing users to participate in Yield App’s loyalty and rewards program. Users holding YLD tokens or stablecoin assets in their Yield App wallet will receive additional tokens based on their holdings. This incentivizes users to maintain a higher balance of YLD tokens, thus enhancing their potential rewards.

Furthermore, Yield App periodically purchases YLD tokens on the open market to ensure a sufficient supply for its loyalty and rewards program. This treasury rebalancing process ensures that the platform can meet its obligations to users, maintaining the value and utility of the YLD token.

The YLD token distribution is as follows: 21.5% for private sale, 16.7% for public sale, 25% allocated to the team and advisors, and 36.8% for growth and reserves, ensuring balanced support for development and expansion.

Source: yield app whitepaper

Overall, the YLD Coin is designed to provide robust incentives for users, fostering engagement and investment within the Yield App ecosystem.

Yield App Main Features

Yield App offers a suite of innovative features designed to maximize user benefits in the DeFi space. Here are some key features that set Yield App apart:

Loyalty Tiers

Yield App’s loyalty program is powered by its native token, YLD. Users can stake YLD to access various membership tiers, each unlocking exclusive benefits. The tiers range from Bronze, requiring 0-999 YLD, to Diamond, needing 20,000+ YLD. Each tier offers increasing advantages, such as higher APYs, with Diamond tier members earning up to 15% APY and enjoying up to 3 free crypto and 1 EUR/GBP withdrawal per month. This structured loyalty program incentivizes deeper engagement with the platform.

Source: yield.app

Swap Assets

Yield App enables users to swap between over 20 cryptocurrencies and fiat currencies seamlessly. This feature offers fast transactions with real-time prices, allowing users to make instant crypto-to-crypto and fiat-to-crypto swaps. With market-leading rates and a diverse range of 80+ trading pairs, users can manage their digital assets efficiently. The platform also supports a daily swap limit of up to $150K, ensuring high liquidity and flexibility for its users. This functionality simplifies the process of managing a diverse crypto portfolio.

Source: yield.app

Yield Pro

Yield Pro offers advanced yield enhancement solutions tailored to different risk profiles and market conditions. This suite includes products like Dual Currency (Buy Low) and Dual Currency (Sell High), which allow users to earn high returns by taking advantage of market volatility. For instance, Dual Currency (Buy Low) enables users holding stablecoins to acquire crypto assets at a lower-than-market price if prices decline. These strategies provide lucrative opportunities while maintaining flexibility to adapt to various market environments, making Yield Pro a versatile tool for maximizing returns.

Source: yield.app

OTC Desk

Yield App’s OTC Desk facilitates large trades over $100k, offering a bespoke, confidential trading experience. This service is ideal for both individual and institutional investors, leveraging a deep liquidity pool to minimize market impact and ensure favorable terms. Users benefit from seamless FIAT/Crypto support, easy onboarding, and expert advice with dedicated 24/7 customer support. This OTC service enhances Yield App’s offering by providing a robust solution for high-volume transactions, ensuring efficiency and confidentiality for substantial trades.

Source: yield.app

YLD Insurance Fund

Yield App has introduced the YLD Insurance Fund to address concerns hindering mass adoption and provide peace of mind to retail users. One percentage point of YIELD’s APY will be allocated to this fund, managed by YIELD Insurance. The fund aims to amass emergency reserves to compensate users for losses due to security breaches, theft, unauthorized access, human error, smart contract failures, market events, regulatory actions, and third-party actions. Strategic partnerships with traditional and crypto insurance providers will further enhance user protection.

Yield App’s comprehensive features cater to a wide range of users, from casual crypto enthusiasts to serious investors, making it a versatile platform for maximizing returns in the DeFi ecosystem.

Is YLD a Good Investment?

Yield App simplifies DeFi investments with an intuitive platform, making it attractive to both new and experienced users. The ability to earn high returns through various tiers and products, along with seamless asset swaps, enhances its appeal. However, as with any investment, risks are involved, including market volatility and the platform’s reliance on user adoption for continued growth. It is important to weigh these factors carefully before investing.

How to Own YLD?

To own YLD, you can use the services of a centralized crypto exchange. Start by creating a Gate.io account and get it verified and funded. Then, you are ready to go through the steps to buy YLD.

News on Yield App

According to what was announced on the official Yield App blog on 10 June 2024, the new ‘My Portfolio’ page is now live on the Yield App web app and desktop platform. This feature allows users to monitor their investments, view earnings and growth, manage allocations, swap and deploy assets, and redeem earnings easily. Additionally, users can participate in exclusive Angel Launchpad deals. The ‘My Portfolio’ page aims to enhance user experience with a user-friendly interface, comprehensive insights, efficient management, and access to new investment opportunities.

Take Action on YLD

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