Before the broader crypto sell-off in recent weeks, bitcoin had risen as much as 115%. Dogecoin had risen more than 12,000%. Ethereum had risen more than 470%. Other coins have also seen big gains as investors have snatched them up.
But for those investing in cryptocurrencies for the long-term, there's a simple way to add to these gains: loaning the currencies out.
In the crypto-driven world of decentralized finance (DeFi), individuals can play the role that banks often do in traditional finance. They can lend their money for a fixed period of time to other individuals, in return for interest payments.
"The easiest way to think about it is in traditional finance, if you have a money market account at Bank of America, you're getting like .1% interest, if you're lucky," said David Martin, a product manager at crypto trading platform FalconX, in an interview with Insider. "In crypto you're getting upwards of 10% for dollars, for a stablecoin." For comparison, the benchmark 10-year Treasury note yielded 1.61% on Friday.