Launched Monday, the product is said to bring bitcoin savers up to 4% in interest per year, with no fixed terms.
Luno – which is owned by CoinDesk’s parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) – said users can withdraw their bitcoin from the savings wallet into their normal wallet at any time. Interest is calculated on the first of every month.
The firm’s CEO and co-founder, Marcus Swanepoel, said in an announcement that the wallet was launched after a 95% of customers indicated they would like to earn interest on their holdings.
The interest rate offered is “much higher” than those currently offered by traditional savings schemes in regions such as Europe, he added.
The firm’s research found that 54% of respondents earned zero interest on their cash savings internationally.
Luno was acquired by DCG in September, with the exchange to continue to operate independently as part of the blockchain investment company’s group.
The bitcoin savings product comes at a time when investors are increasingly turning to ways to earn income from their cryptocurrency holdings other than merely holding in the hope of gains.
The area of decentralized finance, or DeFi, has soared over the last six months as the concept of “yield farming” saw wider appeal as a means to earn rewards by loaning liquidity.
