The following is based on my experiences with BlockFi and my understanding of what happened to us as BlockFi customers following the downfall of some centralized cryptocurrency exchanges. If I need to correct this, please leave a comment below. Thank you.
At the start of 2021, I started moving a lot of money around into and out of the stock market and only using what I needed to create some real side money using the options wheel strategy.
I didn’t particularly appreciate having money “sit around” doing nothing since I felt we were heading into some actual inflationary times due to the mass printing of money into the economy.
Modernist and FB self-proclaimed economic experts can claim inflation won’t happen due to massive injection of money, but events like this always lead to higher inflation(Read: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Cantillon ).
So…. back to what I was talking about, I wanted to keep my money from losing value sitting around in some lousy bank savings, and having its value erode. Therefore I found BlockFi, thanks to one of those self-proclaimed financial experts on YouTube.
Mostly watch those guys for entertainment value to try and track the trend of money movement by the masses. Yes, Wall-street Bets is one of my favorites.
My BlockFi 2021 Activities And Returns:
In Feb 2021, I started depositing a large amount of money into BlockFi. After testing deposits and withdrawals, I was happy with capital moving back and forth from my bank account into BlockFi.
I read BlockFi information( https://blockfi.com ) and was satisfied there were precautions against theft(strongly based on my Password and 2FA setup). I wasn’t going to lose my money, I could tell.
The process of financial institutions using the depositor’s money to make loans and returning some interest collected from borrowers to the depositors has been around for a long time. It’s a simple system.
So I started depositing money. A lot of money.
Not only over 2021 did I deposit my trading money in time out, but my six-month expense emergency fund, as well as any other small savings, account for items like car and house repairs.
I was soon up to 6-figures in BlockFi, when I was taking breaks from options trading.
This money was, and is, a lot of money for me. Consider it my life’s savings outside of my retirement accounts.
I was making good interest, but interest returns fluctuated. I even experimented with directing the interest payments into creating free Bitcoin.
I was making Cryptocurrency Without Mining. I was so happy Crypto Yield Farming and BlockFi was good to me.
My BlockFi 2022 Activities And Wake-Up Call:
I became lazy and treated BlockFi like a boring bank savings account. I watched BlockFi compound my interest in my account, and the balance started growing.
The speed at which the balance was growing was great.
I thought to myself, almost making historical S&P500 returns in interest payments without ever having my principal at risk as it would be in the stock market.
Just let the money sit in my BlockFi account and worked with the money I kept in the stock market.
I had my Outlet Financial Savings Account, but now I was interested in pursuing additional cryptocurrency yield farming opportunities. I found a small network of friends doing the same, and I asked for referral links to get bonus signup money.
I considered signing up at Celsius: Is Celsius Crypto A Good Investment?
My Crypto Wake-Up Call, My Delusion Was Dissolving:
The news was spreading about Three Arrows Capital and how their alleged misuse of funds as a borrower was going to destabilize the cryptocurrency economy.
Then Celsius Network Freezes Withdrawals!
I wrote about my concerns and mistakes with BlockFi(BlockFi Withdrawal Fee Avoidance = Crypto Gambling).
Note to self, If I am ever again concerned about the safety of large amounts of money, don’t make a step withdrawal; withdraw the total amount. I could have always deposited again later.
I was out of BlockFi, well, mostly. Like 99%+ out.
As you can see from these images, I made step withdrawals from BlockFi.

The first big BlockFi Withdrawal was in June 2022; you can see May 2022 balance:

Last BlockFi withdrawal in July 2022, can see June 2022 balance:

Now Today (December 2022):

BlockFi Remorse And Kicking Self, Till November 2022.
Now I have the advantage of looking back and seeing what I did was correct, but that is today.
In August, September, and October, I had much of the money I pulled out of BlockFi in low-interest accounts. Money markets, even one of my bank savings accounts. Yuck.
Each time I got around to reviewing my financial balance, I was repulsed by the little money I was making as a savings depositor, with the amount of inflation destroying my nest egg.
Then November 2022 Came:
The Twitter spat between Changpeng Zhao(CZ) of Biance and Sam Bankman-Fried(SBF) of FTX caused much of the world, the Emperor (FTX), to have no clothes.
FTX filed for bankruptcy, and all their promises to save the crypto-economy were revealed as less solid than we all liked to believe.
SBF stepped down from FTX, and SBF’s promise to help BlockFi seemed like they needed to be more dependable. So BlockFi prevented a ‘bank-run’ and froze withdrawals. Soon later filed for bankruptcy, Chapter 11.
My BlockFi Interest Account Today:
I have a little money in Gemini USD(GUSD) and Bitcoin(BTC). According to my dashboard on BlockFi, both are still generating monthly interest payments, which I have deposited into Bitcoin.
That is the good news.
The Bad News is, BlockFi Withdrawals Still Frozen.
Again, in hindsight, I was spared the hardship others are currently suffering.
I have no feelings for institutional investors in BlockFi and FTX; businesses and those experts evaluated the risk and made their company’s investments.
I feel terrible for those who didn’t see the warnings and have massive amounts of money still tied up in BlockFi. There is no light at the end of the tunnel, and no one can tell us when the tunnel ends.
My $300 is nothing, but at most, I am just suffering from survivor’s remorse and cannot truly feel what it must be like for others who invested large amounts of personal funds into BlockFi.
So My BlockFi Interest Account Review?
Not happy, let’s face it; the only reason we are in this situation is as lenders were not vetting borrowers well enough. Companies could create their own crypto-tokens out of the air and slap a price tag on the token, and people would pay it.
They created their equity out of thin air and then used that equity to borrow money against it. They borrowed our money.
Correct me if I’m wrong. There should have some internal oversight over the lender’s ability to repay debt. Just a novice here, not running any multi-billion dollar company.
I am trying to manage my life’s savings and get ahead.
Your BlockFi Experiences?
If you are a BlockFi customer and have funds locked up on the platform, please leave a comment and share your experiences with us.
![]() Myself with an interesting Bull Sculpture. Notice: No Lambo’s. :/ | Hi I’m Tom, A Blogger And A PIG Farmer. PIG Farmer as in I grow Passive Income Generators(PIG’s). I’ve been playing with stocks, mutual funds, and options for decades, as well as always working on my side hustle stacks. Unlike what you read online, I’ve yet to find a way to get rich quickly. Get Rich Quick isn’t happening for me. My journey has been long and continues. I hope to have so many PIGs I can stop working at my current job and volunteer as a medical worker overseas. Still waiting, but getting there. I still am a family man, and while on this Journey of Growing PIGs. I wanted to share my adventures(ups and downs), hoping you will contribute with your feedback and comments. Fun Fact: In my spare time, I am a Band-Dad! |