Uphold’s Earn feature lets you put your USDC to work. By depositing your funds into lending pools, you earn rewards over time. You can also use these deposits as collateral to access Instant Credit without selling your crypto.
How to start earning
Follow these steps to begin:
- Tap Start Earning on your Uphold home screen and tap Continue.
- Review and agree to the Terms and Conditions.
- Tap Lend USDC, then tap Add Funds. Note: You will be lending USDC, but you can convert your other crypto assets in USDC during this step.
- Select the amount you want to deposit and tap Confirm.
- Look for the confirmation message on your screen that your funds are now earning.
Manage your Earn portfolio
Once you start earning, go to the Earn page to track your performance. At a glance, you will see your:
- Projected monthly rewards
- Current APY%
- Current balance
- Recent activity
At the bottom of the page, you can choose to either Add more funds or Withdraw.
Withdraw your funds
Taking your money out of your Earn portfolio only takes a few taps:
- Tap Withdraw at the bottom of the Earn page. Warning: Moving funds from the protocol’s lending pool back to an Uphold account is a crypto transaction; standard network fees apply.
- Select the amount you want to take out and tap Preview. If you are using your Earn funds to back a loan, you will see a preview of your Credit Health score. This score shows how the withdrawal impacts borrowing or spending power.
- Review the transaction details, then tap Confirm.
Using Earn as collateral
You can use your Earn balance as collateral to borrow funds via Uphold’s Instant Credit feature.
Adding funds and withdrawing funds works exactly the same way. However, you cannot withdraw funds that are currently required to secure a loan you are still playing off. To unlock your funds so you can withdraw them, you must pay your loan balance first. Learn how to do this here.
Regional restrictions: In regions where Instant Credit is not supported, you cannot use your Earn balance as collateral for the Exa Credit card. However, you can still deposit USDC and earn rewards!
Where is Earn available?
Earn is available in Latin America, US*, and Rest of the World**.
Earn is not available in the EU and the UK.
*Earn is not available in the following US States: American Samoa, Illinois, Louisiana, New York, U.S. Virgin Islands,Texas and Washington.
**Earn is not available in the following RoW countries: Australia, Singapore, South Africa.
Does Uphold charge any fees?
Uphold does not charge any additional fees or subscriptions to use Earn. See our Terms of Use for more details.
Are there any risks associated with Earn?
This feature relies on the Exactly protocol. While Exactly uses industry-leading security and is audited, there is always risk of hacks or cyber attacks that could cause a loss of funds.
Taxes
Rewards generated by Earn may be considered taxable income. Review our General U.S. crypto tax facts, but always speak with a certified tax professional for advice tailored to your specific situation.