Word Business Outlook recently broke the news that Hodlnaut, a Singapore-based borrowing and lending platform, has partnered with California-based cryptocurrency exchange platform, Okcoin. While Hodlnaut provides financial services to the cryptocurrency users, Okcoin is helping people buy and sell bitcoins and 20 other crypto assets.
As per the official claims, the partnership would make Hodlnaut the first CeFi (Centralized Finance) platform to partner with Okcoin. Hodlnaut has confirmed that Okcoin will be its preferred fiat on-ramp solution especially for BTC/SGD (Bitcoin/Singapore Dollar) and ETH/SGD (Ethereum/Singapore Dollar) pairs. It means that this would allow the Singapore users to generate the yield on the two largest crypto assets in their local currency.
In an exclusive email interaction with World Business Outlook, we try to decrypt the real deal behind this business deal.
What are the expectations from the partnership with Okcoin?
Hodlnaut currently does not offer fiat on-ramp services. One of the most common questions by our users is how they can get their USD or SGD onto our platform and if there is a way for them to buy crypto. With this partnership, we are able to promote Okcoin with ease of mind, knowing that their products are internationally available and reliable for our users. Okcoin’s Earn products currently only focus on DeFi (Decentralized Finance) platforms, and Hodlnaut would be its first CeFi yield-generating platform that it would be working with.
Okcoin has a large international user base (especially in the US), and Hodlnaut is looking to tap into its user base to gain more active users. Okcoin has identified Hodlnaut as a good partner to enable them to build their presence in Singapore and thereafter into the APAC region. The partnership aims to lower the barriers to entry for retail users’ mass adoption of crypto. Okcoin provides a way for users to turn their fiat into crypto effortlessly, and Hodlnaut provides users the option of the safety of funds while reaping the benefits of earning passive income.
What has been the major driving force for retail investors and individuals to invest in cryptocurrencies?
Generally, the bull run has turned many heads and prompted many retail investors to look into crypto to diversify their portfolios. Also, with the rise of NFTs reflecting innovation in the crypto space, retail investors are starting to take notice of the technology in the space, and are starting to get excited about the world of possibilities that crypto could open to the financial industry in the future. Hodlnaut offers experience similar to the traditional banking systems with an interest rate up to 12.73 percent APY (Annual Percentage Yield).
What are the upcoming trends to look out for in the cryptocurrency sector?
In terms of upcoming trends, we are expecting a mass crypto adoption by retail users. Businesses will start turning parts of their balance sheet into crypto, family offices will start taking positions and exposure to crypto, and traditional banks will also start offering crypto products.
What are your expectations for the upcoming Android app after the success of the iOS app?
Upon our first day of launch, Hodlnaut’s iOS App made it to the top 30 Finance Apps on the Apple App Store. Within our first week of launch, our app had 2.2k downloads. Currently, we have almost 60 reviews and a 4.8 star rating.
The Android App is expected to garner even more hype and higher user acquisition from its launch given that Android phones have a larger market share. The garnered hype and popularity of the iOS app has helped us to garner trust for the upcoming Android App.
How can the concerns regarding investments in cryptocurrencies be mitigated?
Education is key. Launching partnerships and giving full information is always the best way to convince retail investors and to also protect them. At the end of the day, Hodlnaut has a large treasure trove of resources on its blog that educates users on crypto, scams, pitfalls in investing crypto, and more.
Hodlnaut and Okcoin have also come up with a comprehensive step-by-step guide to ensure that users are guided through the end-to-end process of getting their fiat into crypto, and ‘hodl-ing’ to earn passive income while waiting for bitcoin to the moon!
Which region looks most promising for expanding the cryptofinance solutions?
We do hope to expand our presence in the EU and US more aggressively as we’ve realised that users from those regions are more receptive to crypto adoption.
Also Read: Singapore’s Crypto Lending Platform Partners With US Crypto Exchange
