$$$ KPO and CZM $$$: May 2021

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Friday, May 28, 2021

DeFi - Harmony ONE and Fantom (FTM)

As mentioned previously - Portfolio - April 2021, I was going to move my remaining crypto out of crypto.com and the initial plan was to convert them to ADA or ETH before moving but the price of both coins had already shot up while CRO kept falling. I didn't want to chase the price so I began looking into other/smaller networks to farm. The reason for going to a smaller network is you can start farming first when the price is low before it gains popularity just like the CAKE token in PancakeSwap. It was less than a dollar last year/early this year but went as high as US$40+ a few weeks back.


After researching, I realized the cheapest way was to move them to the Harmony ONE network which cost just 0.0008 ONE token. That's 0.0008 x US$0.1094 (at the point of writing) ~ US$0.00008752. lol. No pain at all as compared to transferring BTC or ETH.


Anyway, I transferred my ETH to my Metamask wallet, bridged over to Polygon and is currently deposited to Aave as collateral. I converted all my CRO to ONE and as usual, I would always send the minimum amount as a test transaction. Initially, I sent it to Binance first before sending it to my Metamask wallet but I realized I can actually just send the ONE token directly to my Metamask wallet. If you are already on Ethereum or BSC network, then you can use this bridge - https://bridge.harmony.one/one. Based on my experience, transferring fund to the Harmony network is extremely easy/smooth.

You can set up your Metamask wallet or configure the network by following the instructions here. The article/guide will also teach one how to get your ONE address using your 0x address.

Screenshot taken from https://vfat.tools/harmony/

Harmony ONE only has 3 farms to choose from and I went with ViperSwap (PancakeSwap or QuickSwap equivalent). You can read more about it here but basically, it has received "blessings" from the Harmony ONE CEO.


Typically, on PancakeSwap or anywhere else, the crazy high yields are from shitcoin LP but not in Viper. The LP are mostly from reputable projects from Ethereum. Do also note that the returns shown are in APR which means the APY returns are even higher. In addition, the fees are negligible, definitely the lowest amongst all the network I have tried.


Staking US$1.5k will give me US$13k in a year? lol. Too good to be true? Maybe because 95% of yield from the VIPER token are actually locked until Dec 2021 earliest. I already have US$600 worth of VIPER token after farming for slightly less than a month. Let's see how things go :) On a fun note, I even got my 1st NFT which is a Crazy.ONE subdomain - https://kpo-and-czm.crazy.one/. lol

Similarly, I decided to try out Fantom with a capital of SG$5k which is another smaller network but unfortunately, I went in when the FTM token was trading around its peak/highest (~US$0.80+) and am suffering a 60% loss with its current price at just US$0.36 as of 27th May. I decided to average down and put in another SG$1k yesterday and the price dropped another 20% to US$0.29 today. Faints @_@"


Under normal circumstances, transferring FTM token can be done through Binance for a very cheap fee (0.01 FTM) but it was extremely painful for me previously when Binance suspended the withdrawal to the network for days/weeks and multichain.xyz were having some issue as well. In the end, I transferred the FTM which I already bought at a high price through the Ethereum network and bridge over using multichain paying a lot more fees (Ethereum gas fee + 80 FTM multichain transfer fee) along the way. The good news is Binance has resumed the withdrawal/transfer to the FTM network directly so it should not be so painful/costly if you are considering trying it out. You can follow the guide here to set up your Metamask.

Screenshot taken from https://vfat.tools/fantom/

These are the farm I am in - Spooky, Spirit and Waka because they are one of the bigger farms based on TVL according to DefiLlma.


~US$886 with a yield of 233.26% APR based on the current price.


~US$856 with a yield of 311.65% APR based on the current price.


~US$228.52 with a yield of 1,278% APR based on the current price.

Generally, the higher the APR, the lesser I will put in because it generally means higher risk. I do not think I will be exploring other networks (e.g. Avalanche, Solana, etc.) because I do not have much capital to play/throw anymore and after a while, they are more or less the same. Hence, this should be my last DeFi article unless I discover new things.

After exploring/experimenting for a few weeks, my strategy is to just pump more capital/money into Aave and Curve to farm MATIC because they are still relatively safer. All that is left now is to think of a monthly DCA plan to get more BTC, ETH or more stablecoins on Aave and get CZM onboard. lol.

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:
- DeFi - Harmony ONE and Fantom

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at 8 comments:

Wednesday, May 26, 2021

Endowus - April 2021

I have been considering/thinking of investing my CPF OA through Endowus for the longest time but never really acted on it. Our CPF OA currently have around $40k each which can last/buffer our housing loan payment for ~4 years+ assuming we stopped working for whatever reasons (FIRE/retrenched/break). CZM might stop working anytime so I will leave her OA untouched and build the buffer as much as possible but for myself, I will probably still be working for the next 9 years (our goal is to FIRE by 40) so I can be more aggressive. Oh well, I think I should just close my eyes and whack the Lion Global Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund using Fund Smart.

Risk Profile
Goal type: General wealth accumulation
Risk tolerance: Maximise returns (loss tolerance -60%)
Monthly investment using SRS: $638


I have modified my monthly investment in order to max out my SRS contribution for the year.

Account Summary


Capital: $13,702.00
Current: $16,570.37 (21.01%)

There are quite a few differences as compared to StashAway. Firstly, all the cash has been invested while StashAway keeps 1% of the portfolio in cash. Secondly, the fees are not deducted on a monthly basis. The Access Fee charged by Endowus will be deducted at the end of each quarter as stated in their FAQ.

As of 25 May 2021, the portfolio value is $16,607.64 (+21.28%).


Endowus is still performing better as compared with StashAway given that both portfolios had the same capital/deposit.


Asset Allocation


This shows that the number of shares for each fund that I owned:
- Dimensional Global Core Equity Fund (208.9300)
- Infinity US 500 Stock Index Fund (2,477.0200)
- Dimensional Emerging Markets Large Cap Core Equity Fund (84.1200)
- Dimensional Pacific Basin Small Companies Fund (79.1630)

Transactions


That's all! Overall, I think the statement is pretty straightforward and easy to read. On a side note, StocksCafe does not has the ability to track funds, hence unable to do any form of comparison/benchmark.

Speaking of which, Endowus has finally launched a mobile app:
Android: https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.endowus.mobileapp

If you are interested in Endowus, do use our referral link for our readers! You will get S$10,000 managed free for 6 months ($20 equivalent) and we will get $20 too! 

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

You might be interested in the previous monthly update too:
- Endowus - December 2020 - $12,466.20
- Endowus - January 2021 - $13,080.35
- Endowus - February 2021 - $13,549.30
- Endowus - March 2021 - $15,484.29
- Endowus - April 2021 - $16,570.37

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at 2 comments:

Monday, May 24, 2021

DeFi - Risks and Dangers (I Lost 97% Overnight)

The recent crypto crash has taken away all the profits from last month but the worst part of my experience so far is being exploited by a hacker causing me to lose 97% of my capital/investment for that particular token. When I decided to give DeFi a try, I expected myself to encounter some exploit/exit scam along the way but definitely not so soon! 

I am aware that exploit/bug is almost unavoidable so I try to put my money at the top platform/dapp (decentralized application) that has undergone audit(s) but when it happens, you just die without knowing how you died. PancakeBunny was exploited a few days ago and you can read more about it here - Community Notice: Post Mortem Analysis.

In my previous article (PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny), I mentioned that these platforms can provide high yield because the governance tokens (CAKE and BUNNY) are created out of thin air and given to us as a form of reward. Long story short, the hacker exploited/made use of a bug in the code to "print/create" 6.9 millions of BUNNY token which he/she then dumped it all on the market to exchange for other tokens (ETH and BNB) causing the price of the BUNNY token to fall significantly. By doing this, he/she managed to walk away with US$45 million (technically not yet, shall explain more later).


2 weeks back, I swapped 4.177 BNB @ US$662.11 (~US$2.7k) for 8.735 BUNNY which meant that I paid ~US$316.74 per BUNNY token. You can check out the actual transaction here.


Imagine the horror of waking up to see the price of your BUNNY token becoming just US$7.90 or US$2.7k becoming US$69. This is officially my worst loss and a very painful one. To be fair, I did my due diligence, PancakeBunny was one of the top 3 dapps/platforms in BSC in terms of TVL and it was "incubated" by Binance Labs with no major findings in their Haechi Audit. 


On the bright side, the Bunny Team came up with a "compensation" plan which is better than nothing. You can read about it here - Go Forward Plan. Technically, they can just close "shop"/declare bankruptcy and nobody can hold them accountable. lol. Anyway, I got to stick around for the next 90 days in order to claim/receive my "compensation". I would like to remain optimistic and hopefully, I can bring down my losses from 97% to 50%? Fingers crossed!

Moral of the story - Smart contract risk is very real. It can definitely happen anywhere, anytime. Will this experience deter me from DeFi farming? Not at the moment but it made me rethink my strategy/plan which is to convert more of these governance token to stablecoins rather than hold them forever. If you are planning to invest in crypto, make sure you invest what you can afford to lose (like me). Life goes on :)

To end it off, the interesting thing about the blockchain is that all transactions are visible/available to everyone and we can actually see/follow the trails of the hacker:

After swapping all the BUNNY to ETH, he/she bridge/ran off to the Ethereum network and was not spared from the crash too. The wallet/address now holds US$30 million of DAI (stablecoin) as compared to the reported US$45 million. The question now is how can he/she cash out that money? All I know is CEX is definitely not an option where KYC is required. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Stay safe in both the real world and the DeFi world!

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:
The safer approach using stablecoins
Risky approach but more hassle-free
Highest risk and you are on your own
- DeFi apps on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny
- DeFi - Risks and Dangers (I Lost 97% Overnight)

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at 2 comments:

Saturday, May 22, 2021

StashAway - April 2021

I have closed off all our Syfe portfolio and blogged about the rationale here - Bye Bye Syfe! To be honest, closing off StashAway crossed my mind too ever since I discovered the possibility of DeFi farming using stablecoin which I have blogged about here - DeFi - Farming MATIC using Aave + Curve. The strategy will give us about 30-40% yield (depending on the price of MATIC as well as the fluctuating yield of Aave and Curve) and with just US$30k, I could generate a monthly cashflow of ~US$800 or SG$1k. To generate that kind of cashflow traditionally assuming a 5% dividend portfolio requires a capital of SG$240k. However, it is not without risk and given that I am still fairly new to it, I will be observing for the next few months before deciding if I should move more cash over.

Investment for this month:
KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22% - $1,000
Baby Ong Cash - StashAway Risk Index 36% - $100
KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36% - $638

Total: $1,738

1. PORTFOLIO SUMMARY (as of the last day of the month)

KPO

CZM

Based on the statement (30 April 2021), our total investment is ‭$67,210.58! KPO gains $765.51 and CZM gains $85.35 for the month.

As of 21 May 2021, these are our portfolio performance:


KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%: $‭45,391.10 (42.34% - Capital: $36,750)


Baby Ong Cash - StashAway Risk Index 36%: $345.55 (-3.79% - Capital: $350)


KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%: $16,243.49 (44.50% - Capital: $13,702)


CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 22%: $6,496.80  (24.74% - Capital: $6,000)

2. PORTFOLIO DETAILS 
Note that these are reported in USD.

KPO and CZM Cash - StashAway Risk Index 22%

Baby Ong Cash - StashAway Risk Index 36%

KPO SRS - StashAway Risk Index 36%

CZM SRS - StashAway Risk Index 22%

3. FEE CALCULATIONS


The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD ($25,000.00 x 0.8% + $25,000.00 x 0.7% + $9,656.83 x 0.6%) / 365 days * 30 days = $35.58.


The fee stated is based on the monthly-average assets SGD $6,496.72 x 0.8% / 365 days * 31 days = $4.27. 

StocksCafe


Evan (founder of StocksCafe) made an improvement where one can now benchmark their portfolio against multiple indexes/ETFs. Looking at the time-weighted return (4.21%) for the year 2021, we can see that StashAway Risk Index 22% is underperforming all of our benchmarks.

If we compare across the years, StashAway's portfolio is winning by a huge margin (43.01%) except losing to SPY (68.60%) and IWDA (58.32%). In addition, it has the lowest volatility and max drawdown. This is what StashAway meant by reducing risk and maximizing the return. 

The annualized return/XIRR of the portfolio is very impressive too at 12.29%. Using the Rule of 72, it means that the StashAway portfolio will double our money in 72 / 12.29 ~ 5.85 years. In comparison, the same money if left in the bank account at 2% interest rate will take 72 / 2 ~ 36 years to double.


As for StashAway Risk Index 36%, the portfolio currently has a higher time-weighted return (45.31%) when compared against all the indexes (STI, SPY, and IWDA) but it is also clear that it is riskier in the sense that both its volatility/max drawdown are much higher when you compare against the benchmark and StashAway Risk Index 22% portfolio. The XIRR is 20.00%. Using the same rule, our money will double in 72 / 20.00 ~ 3.60 years.

Which is the best? Only time will tell :)

Anyway, if you are interested in signing up for StashAway, do use our referral link - KPO and CZM Referral Link. You will get $10,000 free management fees for 6 months and we will get $16!

If you want to extract those transactions information from StashAway, do take a look at this article - StashAway Transactions Parser.

If you are interested in the smart portfolio tracker (StocksCafe) which I am using as shown above, sign up using my link for a longer trial period :) Refer to our Referrals page for more information.

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- StashAway - December 2020 - $56,721.26
- StashAway - January 2021 - $59,991.38
- StashAway - February 2021 - $61,608.72
- StashAway - March 2021 - $64,759.72
- StashAway - April 2021 - $67,210.58

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at No comments:

Thursday, May 20, 2021

DeFi - Farming MATIC using Aave + Curve

Update on 22nd June 2021: Not applicable anymore. Yield has dropped drastically. 

Easy money in crypto? Not so much anymore, all my crypto farms are losing money now but life goes on. There is probably a new batch of people who got burned and decided that crypto is a scam and will stay away. lol. In fact, I am glad that the price is falling so I can continue to farm more coins. As for the bulk of my money in Aave, no pain/movement at all. That is the beauty of stablecoins.

Anyway, after my previous article on DeFi - Aave, QuickSwap and AdamantVault on Polygon (Matic Network), besides the reader that left a comment stating how risky it was to borrow MATIC which is equivalent to shorting it, another reader asked me to check out Curve and I have changed the farming strategy to a much safer but higher yield approach.


Before I go into that, let me just share a bit more on the risk of getting liquidated in Aave. My previous strategy was to borrow MATIC and deposit MATIC in order to earn/increase the yield by participating in the borrowing market. Leveraging this way would have brought my yield to 24%+/- depending on the price of MATIC. However, doing so as the reader has correctly pointed out, I might get liquidated if the price of MATIC increases suddenly/drastically. It is not very intuitive right?


To understand how it works, let's take a look at how the health factor is computed. It is (your collateral x the liquidation threshold) / borrowed asset. The liquidation threshold is constant/fixed and can be found here. Hence, the health factor will be affected by both the collateral and the debt/borrowed asset.

There are 2 ways to get liquidated:
1. When your collateral decreases (e.g. BTC or ETH price falls). This can happen when your collaterals are not stablecoins. If they are stablecoins like how I am doing it, then you can ignore this.
2. When your debt increases (e.g. MATIC price increases). Although I deposited the same amount of MATIC back, the LTV of MATIC is just 50%. Hence, when the price of MATIC increases, the rate at which my debt increases will be doubled the increase in my collateral and the chance of being liquidated exist. On the other hand, if you were to borrow stablecoins, then you can ignore this.

If you are planning to farm on Aave and is interested in playing with the spreadsheet or using it to manage your risk, you can make a copy of it here. 

Not sure if you have figured it out after reading so far, in order to play the Aave game safely without the risk of being liquidated, one will have to deposit and borrow stablecoins. This is where Curve comes into the game plan. Similarly, the founder of Curve is made known, hence rug/exit scam will unlikely happen. You can read more about Curve here but to put it simply, it is a DEX for stablecoins. The yield at Curve is currently ~40%+ and behind the scene, they are also using Aave pool and have shared the other risks of using Aave. Do read it here.

This is my current setup using Aave + Curve:


The majority of my capital is in USDC and I borrowed USDT from Aave. I can keep a much lower health factor than before (1.2 initially and it has fallen due to the price of ETH falling) because both my collateral and debts will not be moving much.


The borrowed USDT will then be deposited into Curve. If you are wondering why not just deposit into Curve directly, the answer is by leveraging I will be getting a higher yield which consists of more MATIC.


Of course, the yield will increase/decrease depending on the price of MATIC. This is like the movie - Inception where a dream happened within another dream. I am borrowing USD from the bank at 1%+, used the borrowed USD to borrow more USD to get a yield of 47%+. Easy money? Only time will tell :) If you looked closer, you will see that my initial US$30k has become just US$29.8k because of all the fees I had to pay to convert and transfer/bridge the money to its final USDC form in Polygon. I am sure I will earn it back soon. 

The above seems too complicated? A more fuss-free approach is to just use Celsius Network for 10% interest where the capital is guaranteed and I have demonstrated how to withdraw the USD out too. Check out the articles below. 

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:
The safer approach using stablecoins
Risky approach but more hassle-free
Highest risk and you are on your own
- DeFi apps on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny
- DeFi - Farming MATIC using Aave + Curve

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at 20 comments:

Wednesday, May 19, 2021

Bye Bye Syfe!

I was going to blog more on Aave after my previous article but I decided this update should take priority although it is less interesting as compared to DeFi. I have decided to close the Syfe REIT+ account too after closing the Equity100 a few months back.


Don't be mistaken, I still like the REIT+ portfolio like what I have blogged about previously here. Let me just share/quote myself here:
After using Syfe for slightly more than 8 months, I really like their REIT+ 100% portfolio. Like I mentioned previously, I am pleased with the way they are handling the corporate actions. They are definitely more transparent as compared to a REIT ETF where you will be able to see all the corporate actions such as mergers, rights issues, etc. in your transactions. The monthly DCA ensure that I will always invest my money by taking my emotion out of the picture. I stopped investing in IWDA and 3067 a few months back because I thought the price was high but now they are much higher.

If you are a new investor looking to invest in SG REITs but do not know where to start, I believe Syfe REIT+ portfolio will be suitable and in fact better than the REIT ETF based on my own experience. However, I am not a new investor and I am just someone who is lazy and lack the discipline to follow our DCA plans. I am closing it simply because I need/want more capital and to take control of my REITs investment.

I am not going crazy, diverting 100% of my money into crypto but I will admit my experience/exposure to the crypto world did affect my decision partially. I still love REITs and the dividends/passive income I can get from it but I realized what I really love is the ability to leverage, to make your money work doubly hard. Whatever money I invest in Syfe, is stuck in Syfe. However, if the same money is invested through SCB, I can pledge it and get 70% more as an overdraft.

Screenshot taken from SGAG

When Singapore announced stricter measures last Friday, I decided to close Syfe after discussing with CZM in order to get more capital to whack one of the reputable REITs - Capitaland, Mapletree, Ascendas, etc. Unfortunately, the market has recovered much faster than expected but you get the idea. I am closing REIT+ to buy one/a few of the REITs.

On the leverage part, I know there will probably be this group of people thinking whatever I am doing is crazy and probably can't wait to see me crash and burn. Warren Buffett is one of them, just google for his quotes on leverage. Hahaha. 

Overall Position

Aave/Crypto Position (leverage on leverage. lol)

At the end of the day, it is all calculated risks and I have a lot of spreadsheets doing that to ensure I will never get a margin call. Once I am able to manage that risk, I will be making money using money that doesn't belong to me. Shiok! Take a look at these articles:

Actually, now that I think about it, leverage is somewhat like crypto. People that do not understand it will simply brush it aside/dismiss it. Having said that, I do understand that different people have very different risk appetite and mine is definitely on the high side. As usual, I am not recommending everyone/anyone to use leverage. I am merely sharing what we are doing to build wealth. If you do plan to use it after reading any of my articles, it is your decision and your own responsibility to ensure you do not lose money. Huat ah!

Given that we are no longer using Syfe, I will also stop sharing our referral code. If you are looking to invest, ask your friends for theirs :)

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

You might be interested in previous months update too:
- Syfe REIT+ (100%) Review
- Syfe - December 2020 - $13,129.55
- Syfe - January 2021 - $14,748.08
- Syfe - February 2021 - $15,531.26
- Syfe - March 2021 - $16,600.89
- Bye Bye Syfe! - $17,771.61

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
1. FB Page - KPO and CZM
2. Twitter - KPO and CZM
3. Click here to subscribe using email :)
4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
at 2 comments:

Monday, May 17, 2021

DeFi - Aave, QuickSwap and AdamantVault on Polygon (Matic Network)

I started DeFi about a month ago and I got addicted to it fast. Haha. As I got more comfortable/familiar with how things work through Binance Smart Chain (BSC), I began to explore other networks that claim to be cheaper and better than BSC. As a result, I now have money in BSC, Polygon, Fantom and Harmony ONE. I am sure you are already aware that the crypto world is full of scams, meme/shit coins but I have finally found a place where I am comfortable putting more money in 5 or even 6 digits. Even when I was in BSC, I have not considered putting more money in because it just didn't feel right/safe given that a lot of the projects are being built/developed by anonymous people.


Introducing Aave - an Open Source and Non-Custodial protocol to earn interest on deposits and borrow assets. Yes, you read that right, one can actually earn interest by borrowing from the protocol. If you looked at the screenshot above, you will see 2 different percentages for both deposit and borrow. The larger font one is the interest one will get in the same asset while the percentage in the smaller font is the yield one will get in the form of WMATIC for participating (both deposit and borrow) in the market. WMATIC is simply wrapped MATIC for usage on other networks which can be easily converted to MATIC which is the currency/fee one has to pay for transacting on the Polygon network. If you are on BSC, MATIC will be the BNB equivalent.

For example, if I were to deposit MATIC, my interest will be 1.83% + 6% = 7.83%. However, if I were to borrow MATIC, the loan interest will be 5.97% but I am also getting paid 15.63% by participating in the borrowing market. Hence, the net return is actually -5.97% + 15.63% = 9.66%. On the other hand, if I were to borrow DAI, you will see that the net return is -0.6%. Pick your battle wisely. lol.

Let me also share why I find Aave to be safer as compared to the other platforms in DeFi. Aave isn't new, it has been around since 2017 on the Ethereum network and is one of the top platforms with US$11 billion locked according to DeFi Pulse. Most importantly, we know who the founders/team members are. In my opinion, if one is genuine in working/building something that works, there is really no reason not to show their face/name and put their reputation on the line. Anyway, Aave launched on Polygon just last month but have already gathered US$4.8 billion in such a short time span which I guess shows a lot on the confidence others have on the platform too.


To get started, simply deposit some of your existing crypto assets. I transferred my ETH from crypto.com to my Metamask wallet address on the Ethereum network before bridging over to Polygon.


This is what I meant when I said the fees are high/expensive on the Ethereum network. One simple transaction/transfer of asset cost US$35.70 (~SG$47.55). Hence, it is not recommended to bridge from the Ethereum network. Instead, try bridging DAI, USDC or USDT from BSC instead using xpollinate.io which will cost less than a dollar. When you bridge over using xpollinate.io, 0.001 MATIC will be sent to your wallet which is more than enough for you to convert your stablecoins to more MATIC. Alternatively, head over to matic.supply to claim the 0.001 MATIC for free too :)


Once you have some deposit, you will be able to borrow because some of your deposit (in fact all except USDT) will act as collateral besides earning interest. Click on "Borrow" on the top.


You will be able to see how much of each asset you can borrow and their relevant interest. 


I decided to borrow MATIC instead of USDT because USDT can't act as collateral which means I will not be able to borrow more using what I have borrowed. lol.


Once I borrowed the MATIC, I have a health factor of 1.83 now. The health factor represents the safety of my loan derived from the proportion of collateral versus the amount borrowed. It has to be kept above 1 to avoid liquidation/margin call.


Look what happens after I deposit the MATIC I borrowed.


My health factor has increased to 2.50. So what's next? Let's borrow more!


It was a lot of trial and error at the start but I have created a spreadsheet to do that now.


Before depositing what I borrowed.


After depositing, the health factor increases again. Not sure if you realized, I have essentially doubled my initial deposit/capital through this process and all of them are earning interest, making my money work doubly hard.


As a result, I have a different strategy now. I have moved US$20k from Celsius Network into Aave because the deposit in Celsius Network can only earn interest (10%) and cannot double up as collateral. In comparison, I can generate 20-30%+ interest with the above strategy and this is our current portfolio. I do plan on putting in more money into Aave as I see huge potential to generate cash flow/passive income with a much lower capital - DeFIRE with DeFi. Anyway, I will blog more on the risk and the spreadsheet I have created in my next article as this is getting slightly long. Meanwhile, you should do your own research if you are planning to try it out.

On a side note, CZM finds DeFi interesting too and has given me SG$3k to farm/invest for her (surprise surprise). Similarly, I have decided to invest her money into a liquidity pool by QuickSwap because it is the biggest DEX in Polygon and the founders/developers are known - not some anonymous food-coin fork. lol. If you are on BSC, QuickSwap is the PancakeSwap equivalent.


In addition, I am using AdamantVault, a yield optimizer that will auto compound the rewards from providing liquidity + their own governance token to further increase the return. The initial plan was to simply farm at QuickSwap but I saw an "endorsement" from QuickSwap so I believe it should be relatively safe to use AdamantVault too.


CZM's capital of SG$3k is now ~SG$3.3k in just a few days as the price of MATIC kept increasing. Huat ah!

Anyway, I have blogged about different ways to leverage crypto to build wealth for people with different risk appetites:
The safer approach using stablecoins
Risky approach but more hassle-free
Highest risk and you are on your own
- DeFi apps on Binance Smart Chain (BSC) such as PancakeSwap and PancakeBunny
- DeFi - Aave, QuickSwap and Adamant on Polygon (Matic Network)

On a side note, Futu's moomoo app attractive sign-up bonus (one free Apple Share besides other benefits) has been extended to 31st May 2021 (1500hr SGT)! Take a look at the latest benefits here.

Do like any of the following for the latest update/post!
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4. Instagram - KPO_and_CZM (Did you see those delicious food photos to the right --> Unfortunately, you can't see it on mobile.)
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