How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins in 2026 — A Complete Guide

Stablecoins are popular in the crypto market when it comes to being used as a medium of exchange. That is thanks to their relative price stability, as they are pegged to reserve assets like fiat currencies or gold. However, our focus today will be on how to earn interest on stablecoins, as allowing them to sit idle in your account won’t do you any good.

Like traditional banks, you can put your stablecoins to work. The top approaches we’ve identified are through savings and lending, but you also have to ask the question of which platforms will serve you best.

We’ve prepared this guide to teach you how to earn interest on stablecoins and how to calculate your expected returns. With that, we will show you which platforms offer the best when it comes to earning interest on stablecoins.

Table of Contents Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. A Short Guide on How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins (With Nexo)
3. Our Top Recommended Platforms to Earn Interest on Stablecoins
   1. Nexo—Earn Up to 16% Annually with Fixed Savings
4. Comparing Our Top Platforms For Earning Interest on Stablecoins
5. How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins
   1. 1. Through Saving
   2. 2. Through Staking
   3. 3. Through Lending
6. How Much Can You Make from Stablecoin Interests?
   1. Calculating Your Returns with APR and APY
7. What to Avoid If You Want to Maximize Your Interests on Stablecoins
8. Our Full Guide On Earning Interest On Stablecoins with Nexo
   1. Step 1: Set Up a New Account
   2. Step 2: Complete the KYC Verification
   3. Step 3: Fund Your Account
   4. Step 4: Start Earning
   5. Quick Note
9. How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins—Final Thoughts
10. FAQ

Show Full Guide

Table of Contents

1. Key Takeaways
2. A Short Guide on How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins (With Nexo)
3. Our Top Recommended Platforms to Earn Interest on Stablecoins
   1. Nexo—Earn Up to 16% Annually with Fixed Savings
Show Full Guide
4. Comparing Our Top Platforms For Earning Interest on Stablecoins
5. How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins
   1. 1. Through Saving
   2. 2. Through Staking
   3. 3. Through Lending
6. How Much Can You Make from Stablecoin Interests?
   1. Calculating Your Returns with APR and APY
7. What to Avoid If You Want to Maximize Your Interests on Stablecoins
8. Our Full Guide On Earning Interest On Stablecoins with Nexo
   1. Step 1: Set Up a New Account
   2. Step 2: Complete the KYC Verification
   3. Step 3: Fund Your Account
   4. Step 4: Start Earning
   5. Quick Note
9. How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins—Final Thoughts
10. FAQ

A Short Guide on How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins (With Nexo)

Most platforms have their unique approaches to rewarding their users with interest on stablecoins. This guide is a short overview of what you likely have to do:

1. Create an account via the Nexo official website using your email and password.
2. Complete your KYC verification by uploading the required documents.
3. Fund your account with your preferred stablecoins ($USDT, $USDC, or $DAI). Ensure the stablecoin is supported on the platform.
4. Activate the interest option for your account.
5. Hold assets in your account to accrue interest over time.

We’ve reviewed several platforms and identified the following as the best if you want to earn interest on stablecoins:

• Nexo: Earn up to 16% annually with fixed savings
• Binance: Supports many stablecoins and offers robust features
• OKX: Earn via staking and holding even while holding the assets as collateral
• Bybit: Invest idle assets with autoearn
• KuCoin: Stake your crypto or lend it out for interest
• MEXC: Earn daily interest on your futures account without affecting your futures trades.

Nexo is our top choice. However, if you want flexibility with many stablecoins, then Binance is worth considering. With Binance, you can opt for simple earn, advanced earn, or ETH staking. All three will bring interests, but if you want more flexibility to trade and invest your assets, then OKX is the one to consider. This platform allows you to trade with your assets while staking them for extra rewards.

Nexo—Earn Up to 16% Annually with Fixed Savings

Nexo offers fixed-term and flexible savings. With the fixed-term option, you can earn up to 16% annually and even unlock white-glove wealth solutions when you deposit at least $100,000. These solutions are personalized services that include exclusive high-limit OTC trading and a private relationship manager. It’s our recommendation if you are a high-net-worth individual.

Another highlight of the fixed-term savings plan is that you can use your savings as a backup to strengthen your credit line. And if you want, you can automatically invest your earned interest into your expiring term to accelerate your growth.

If you don’t want the lockups, then you can opt for the flexible earning plan. This option offers daily compounding, and you can earn up to 14% annual interest. It also allows you to trade with your assets or invest them.

The flexible plan has been available for six years and counting, and it’s our recommendation if you are into crypto day trading. You can also go for bespoke solutions if you are a private client.

Nexo isn’t all about earning interest. The platform is equally valuable when it comes to filing your taxes, making it a well-rounded crypto platform to invest your assets. All you have to do is import your Nexo transaction history, calculate your capital gains, losses, and income, and generate reports. Even better, the platform can generate the report and tailor it to your local tax regulations.

You also have the dual investment plan, where you can earn by buying and selling. Whichever you decide, Nexo will pay your interest into your Savings Wallet, where you will also earn interest from your holdings.

What We Like About Nexo

Pros	Cons
Supports daily payouts with no lock-ups You can earn higher interest through the fixed-term savings plan Nexo offers up to triple-digit interest rates via the dual investment feature The dual investment feature supports an automated trading strategy You can lock in rates regardless of the market direction	There are yield-related risks where assets may be sold to cover loans during market downturns

Visit Nexo

Comparing Our Top Platforms For Earning Interest on Stablecoins

How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins

As mentioned earlier, the two primary ways you can earn interest on stablecoins are through savings and lending. Some platforms go further to provide commissions if you invest in their liquidity pools. However, there are risks involved with these approaches. We will address these risks as we elaborate on how to earn interest on stablecoins using each approach.

1. Through Saving

This approach is popular and, at the base level, works just like saving plans in regular, traditional banking systems. You simply leave your assets for a fixed period and earn interest on them.

Most crypto exchanges offer savings plans on stablecoins because of their relative price stability. With that, you can either go for a flexible or fixed plan. Flexible plans are ideal if you want to get daily payouts from your savings accounts. However, for higher yields, you’ll have to consider the fixed plan.

With your assets locked into these savings plans, the crypto exchange or platform can use these assets for lending or staking. Then, they’ll pay you a portion of their profits as your interest.

Some platforms allow you to keep assets in your savings crypto wallet and still trade with them whenever you need. It’s a plus if you want 24/7 access to your assets.

Risks of Earning Via Savings

• Most crypto platforms, especially centralized exchanges, may require you to deposit your crypto into their custody. That means you do not own the private keys to the wallet.
• Most crypto savings accounts are not insured against loss of funds, collapse, or theft.
• You cannot access your crypto assets if you opt for fixed-term plans.

2. Through Staking

Staking offers a passive income appeal just like savings. With staking, you lock up your tokens in the stake pool to help secure the protocol or maintain its peg (the mechanism that keeps the stablecoin’s value). The platform will then reward you with extra tokens based on a specific yield percentage.

Note that this staking approach differs from what you get when investing in new ICOs, where you lock up a specific token. 

Risks of Earning Via Staking

• You may encounter delays when withdrawing your token from the stake pool.
• Slashing risks are notable, although some platforms may reimburse you for the slashing if it is from their operational errors.

3. Through Lending

Some platforms, like Bybit, provide lending services where they match you to borrowers. We’ve seen some platforms offer lucrative deals when you lend out your idle crypto assets.

Depending on the platform, learning how to earn interest on stablecoins via lending is typically easy to understand. The platform will typically have a pool where lenders deposit their cryptocurrencies. Then, it will give the assets out to borrowers while you earn hourly interest on your deposits.

To secure you and other lenders, platforms that offer lending services typically require borrowers to deposit specific amounts as collateral. Nonetheless, there are other notable risks to consider.

Risks of Earning Via Lending

• There is a risk of bankruptcy, as seen in the collapse of notable platforms like FTX and Celsius.
• Panic withdrawals may force the exchange to freeze all customer assets, making your cryptocurrencies inaccessible.
• Borrowers may default on their loans, damaging the exchange’s balance sheet and affecting interest payments.
• There is typically no deposit insurance.

Calculating Your Returns with APR and APY

With the APR, you will have the following formula:

Final amount paid = Principal * [1 + (APR/n)]^nt, where n is the compounding frequency.

Let’s say you invest 1,000 USDT with a 10% APR for 12 months; then the final amount you’ll get in one year will be:

Final amount paid = 1000 USDT * [1 + 10%/1]^1

= 1000 + 1.1

= 1,100 USDT.

If we have the same amount and period with a 10% APY and a 12-month compounding frequency, then the final amount paid will be:

Final amount paid = Principal * [1 + (APR/n)]^nt, where n is the compounding frequency.

= 1000 * [1+10%/12]^(12*1)

= 1000 * [1+0.0083]^12

= 1000 * 1.10427

= 1,104.7 USDT

You’ll earn more if you pick daily compounding.

What to Avoid If You Want to Maximize Your Interests on Stablecoins

From our experience, these are the things you should consider to get the most out of your interest:

• Some platforms offer different rates when you exceed specific amounts. That is what we will call tiered interest rates. For example, a platform may offer 10% APY for the first 10,000 USDT and a 5% APY for anything above that.
• Opt to reinvest your interest when the savings period elapses. This approach will increase your principal and earnings for the next period. Note that you can reinvest your interest immediately as well, depending on your interest plan.
• Pick daily compounding, as it offers the highest returns, all things being equal.
• Hold native tokens if that will cut down on withdrawal fees and other charges. Some platforms, like Binance, offer discounts when you hold their native tokens.
• Always pick APY over APR, as APY compounds over time.

Our Full Guide On Earning Interest On Stablecoins with Nexo

The following are the steps you should follow:

Step 1: Set Up a New Account

Open the Nexo registration page by clicking the “Sign Up” button. Then, fill out your email and create a password. Like most platforms, you’ll receive a verification code in your email. Enter the code and proceed.

Step 2: Complete the KYC Verification

Nexo is regulated in several jurisdictions, including Italy, the UK, and Poland. As such, KYC verification is mandatory to access all its services.

Go to your dashboard and switch to the personal information tab. Fill out your details and upload an ID to confirm your details. During our review, this process took a few hours, but other users have reported approval within minutes.

Step 3: Fund Your Account

Nexo supports several stablecoins like USDT and USDC. Fund your account with your preferred stablecoin. Note that you can transfer from your crypto wallet or buy with a credit card.

To join the Nexo flexible or fixed-term savings plan, you’ll have to deposit at least $5000 worth of crypto.

Step 4: Start Earning

You can opt in to earn daily interest on your savings, which is our recommendation.

How to Earn Interest on Stablecoins—Final Thoughts

It doesn’t take much to learn how to earn interest on stablecoins. The most important things are the platform, the APY, and other supporting features. We recommend Nexo because it provides both flexible and fixed-term savings plans. It can also generate your tax reports based on your transaction history.

Other platforms you can try include Binance, MEXC, OKX, Bybit, and KuCoin. These are equally notable when it comes to earning interest on stablecoins. Some offer staking, while others expand to lending services.

FAQ