Finder.com.au has unveiled a crypto-deposit product that offers 4.01 per cent returns without the volatility normally associated with cryptocurrencies.

Best known for its comparison website, Finder since May has offered Australians the ability to buy Bitcoin through its app and is now expanding.

It now has begun offering customers the ability to deposit up to $10,000 and convert it to the stablecoin TrueAUD, a representation of the Australian dollar, which would be used by Finder to generate yield in the crypto space.

TrueAUD is a product of San Francisco-based TrustToken, best known for its TrueUSD stablecoin, the No. 92 cryptocurrency.

Finder Earn is about realising the benefits of cryptocurrency for new users who might find the digital asset space confusing or intimidating, Finder personal finance expert Angus Kidman told Stockhead.

“Letting them get into that world of crypto, without having to be so exposed to the complexity and the volatility.

“We’re really looking for a way to see how people could realise some of those benefits and start getting involved in that world, and get a more predictable return on assets.”

Users would be loaning their TrueAUD to Finder, which would then pay customers a 4.01 per cent return.

The product could prove popular. Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Phillip Lowe said last week he didn’t foresee the central bank hiking Australia’s ultra-low 0.1 per cent cash rate in 2022, meaning Aussies will likely be hard-pressed to find a traditional savings account that offers much more interest than that for another year.

Kidman said the 4.01 per cent rate wasn’t guaranteed, but Finder would give people 14 days notice before changing it.

Interest is paid daily and users will be able to withdraw their funds at any time without penalty.

A gradual rollout

For now, Finder is just onboarding customers from its waitlist onto the app’s Finder Earn platform.

There were 11,630 people on the app’s waitlist when Stockhead checked on it last Tuesday.

Kidman said Finder expected to enrol 1,000 by the end of this week.

“Then we’ll just keep introducing people from the waitlist, in a measured kind of way, as we see how it goes.”

New users will have to undergo know-your-customer identity verification, an Australian government requirement, although that onboarding process only takes about five minutes or so.

A treasury committee within Finder will direct the company’s crypto investment strategy, Kidman said.

About TrueAUD

According to Etherscan, there are 30.7 million TAUD tokens circulating on the Ethereum network. Just 170 different wallets hold the cryptocurrency, one of five different fiat-pegged tokens issued by TrustToken.

Its TrueUSD token is far more popular, with 971 million tokens circulating in 48,756 wallets.

The 30,747,678 TrueAUD tokens in circulation are backed by $30,747,753 held by TrueCoin LLC in escrow accounts in Australian dollars and “cash equivalents that include short-term, highly liquid investments of sufficient credit quality that are readily convertible to known amounts of cash,” according to an accountant’s report.

Kidman didn’t say how Finder was generating a yield on the loans, but crypto borrowing and lending platform Celsius offers 10.02 per cent returns on TrueAUD deposits.

The US-based platform has over 1 million users and over US$28 billion in assets, according to its website. Celsius says it is able to offer such high rates because it consistently earns higher returns on its deposits, and distributes 80 per cent of its income back to its depositors.

Also, Crypto.com offers interest rates of between 6.0 and 14.0 per cent on TrueAUD deposits.

The interest Finder Earn is paying isn’t as high, but customers will be able to make fee-free deposits in Aussie dollars using the instant Osko system.

Read MoreCryptocurrency

You might be interested in