I’ve been interested in earning interest with my Crypto and was wondering can BlockFi get hacked? Also, how safe is my Crypto and how does the company even make money?
Yes, Blockfi can get Hacked like every other company and they do everything they can to reduce this risk.
One reason Blockfi is among the safest ways to earn good interest from your money is because it’s a U.S. Based company regulated by U.S. Laws and is licensed in each state it does business.
When it comes to getting hacked and security there are 2 factors.
- Technology
- Human Element
The technology that Blockfi uses is as secure as it gets, everything is encrypted all the time. The network has a minimal presence on the public internet.
If someone is going to attempt to hack Blockfi usually they will target the human element. The human element of ANY business is the weakest link it’s the mantis that hides in plain sight.
You can see this with Bank of America when an employee sold data of its customers. You can read more about this from the link HERE.
On May 14 there was a hacked attempt with Blockfi. No funds are sensitive information was stolen. The hacker did a sim swap on an employee’s phone. This means they took control over someone’s phone in a nutshell.
You can read more about the hacker attempt by clicking on the link HERE.
Call me crazy, but I think that a failed hacker attempt on Blockfi was a good thing. Now the company is scared, more paranoid, and has tougher security.
Still, security is a battle and it starts with the top with the chief security officer. Adam Healy a 15 year veteran of the technology industry with experience spanning national security, healthcare, and financial services.
Next, every person who gets hired they do background checks and review references. Every person that gets hired completes cybersecurity training.
This training continues after someone has been hired and from what I understand they reduce their risk of getting hacked as much as possible.
After studying Blockfi’s security and anti-hacking methods I trust my money with Blockfi over any Crypto exchange or even my bank’s security.
Still, the main thing you have to worry about with security for your crypto is yourself. I know I’ve had a girlfriend still money from me.
Blockfi does have the industry 2-factor authentication. This means you need 2 sources to verify your identity. Maybe a password and your phone is an example of this.
They also have whitelisting. This means when you withdrawal money to an address it MUST be whitelisted by you.
Another risk that you have with Cryptocurrency is the people you know. Yea, don’t brag to people that you have cryptocurrency or flash your wealth is not a bad piece of advice.
How Does Blockfi Earn Income?
What Blockfi does is take your cryptocurrency or stable coins and loans that money to institutions and charges them interest with it.
The interesting thing with cryptocurrency is there is NO clearing cycle. The clearing cycle means it takes time for money to move from one area to another. The markets are running 24 hours a day 7 days a week.
All these exchanges such as Coinbase, Kraken, Binance are not connected and they earn money with arbitrage. They buy things low and sell them high and do it instantaneously. The problem is they need to have the crypto right there to do it.
Blockfi comes and gives them the crypto they need and charges them for it. They do the same for Hedge funds that make money with arbitrage.
The question you probably have is how can Blockfi pay 8.6% with stable coins that are dollars. How can Blockfi do this and other banks can’t? Some people feel this is too good to be true.
It’s difficult for crypto companies to have a relationship with a U.S. Bank. Major banks don’t want to mess with crypto exchanges because of the volatility.
This comes down to supply and demand and Blockfi charges these crypto institutions a higher rate due to this.
In time major banks will probably deal with crypto institutions and when that happens Blockfi will have to reduce the interest rate they pay to loan out money.
Counterparty Risk
The main issue to have with putting your money into Blockfi is it’s not FDIC insured. FDIC insured means if the bank goes belly up the federal government will give you your money.
FDIC insurance came about during “The Depression” when there was a run at the bank and everyone wanted their money at the same time.
This led to banks failing and the U.S. Government had to ensure them to help with confidence. FDIC insured just helps with confidence.
The truth is if you’re going to get a higher interest rate on your money you’re going to have more of a risk. All you can do is reduce your risk as much as your can and this is what Blockfi does.
Here is a good video that explains how Blockfi reduces its risk.
How Blockfi reduces counterparty risk (basically someone runs off without paying) is the same thing you would do if you loaned money out. You would get some type of collateral in exchange.
This reduces your risk “a lot.”
Another concern that some people have is how would Blockfi perform if the Bitcoin market would rise very high or drop very far?
The answer to that is confidence. You’re seeing large institutions such a Twitter, Grayscale, and Tesla holding on to Bitcoin and this helps set the floor price.
Another thing is the history of digital currency. Bitcoin does drop, but then it comes right back.
Also, the market cap of Bitcoin is still very small. This is one of the reasons I invested in Bitcoin because I wasn’t sure it was a bubble or not. The market cap of Bitcoin is tiny compared to Gold and large companies such as Apple.
This means “nobody” is STILL not invested in Bitcoin.
Still, nobody knows what is going to happen to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. This makes the game exciting, but it is risky.
As an investor if your going to invest in Bitcoin or other cryptocurrencies just be mentally prepared to ride out the ups and downs.
Being Prepared to Invest
Also, don’t invest any amount of money into Blockfi that you can’t afford to lose. For your financial well being Dave Ramsey is spot on with his baby steps.
The first step is to save up $1,000 dollars for an emergency. Next, get out of debt. Debt sucks away at your money and your goals. Third, save up 3-6 months of living expenses.
The world is crazy, so having some money saved up for an emergency is a great idea. What if the stock market or crypto market crashes tomorrow? Having some money saved is a good thing and gives you peace of mind.
Step 4 is to invest 15% of your income. Cryptocurrency can be a part of your investing plan. The main reason to invest in cryptocurrency is that the U.S. Government is printing TONS of money.
It’s a hedge against inflation. Inflation means your money is worth less because there is more of it out there. How far Bitcoin will climb is anyone’s guess.
In the end, it’s your own money. You have to do your own research and go with your gut instinct on whether it’s a good buy or not.
If you are interested in earning money with Blockfi I would greatly appreciate it if you click on this link HERE to learn more about the company. Plus you earn $10 in Free Bitcoin if you deposit $100.
I hope this blog post on can Blockfi be hacked was helpful to you, have a nice day.