How to Choose a Bitfinex Lending Bot: Permissions and Fees
Contents
Bitfinex lending bots mostly do the same job: offer your money again as soon as it's back in your funding wallet, and adjust the rate to the market. The differences that actually affect you come down to three things: which permissions it asks for, how it charges, and what happens to your money if it ever stops running.
Check which API permissions it needs
A bot works through an API key you create on Bitfinex. Lending needs very little: read access to your account and wallet balances, plus funding permissions to place and cancel offers.
It never needs withdrawal permission. If a service asks you to turn withdrawals on, walk away.
You can delete the key in your Bitfinex settings at any time, and the bot loses access to your account.
Pricing: a cut of interest or a flat fee
Pricing mostly comes in two flavors.
A performance fee takes a percentage of the interest you earn. You pay less in a cold market when there's little interest, and more when rates are good.
A flat fee is a monthly or yearly subscription: you pay the same no matter how much you earn. The more you lend and the higher the rates, the smaller the fee is per dollar of interest.
To compare the two, convert the flat fee into an equivalent cut:
Equivalent cut = yearly fee ÷ one year of interest after Bitfinex's fee
Say the fee is 50 USD a year and the market pays 10% APR:
- With 10,000 USD, a year of interest is 1,000 USD, or 850 USD after Bitfinex's 15%. The fee works out to a 5.9% cut.
- With 30,000 USD, interest after Bitfinex's fee is 2,550 USD, so the fee works out to 2%.
Whichever service you use, Bitfinex itself keeps 15% of your interest (18% for hidden offers). That's separate from whatever the bot charges.
Ask how it sets rates
A good service can tell you how it sets rates, how often it adjusts them and how it picks loan periods. If it can't explain that, you'll have a hard time telling whether a bad month was the market or the bot.
Be especially wary of anything promising a guaranteed APR. Lending rates are set by the market, and nobody can guarantee them.
If the bot shuts down
Your money is in your own Bitfinex account, so a bot going under can't take it with it. Active loans run to their original term, and principal plus interest return to your funding wallet.
The real loss comes afterwards: nobody is offering your money again, so it sits idle until you notice and switch tools. That's why it's worth checking whether the bot is still being updated, whether it has a public status page, and whether you can reach someone when something breaks.
Start small
A trial is the most reliable comparison you'll get. Run a small amount for a while and look at the actual fills and APR. That tells you more than any marketing number.
Checklist
- Doesn't ask for withdrawal permission
- You've converted any flat fee into an equivalent cut
- It can explain how rates are set
- Your money stays in your own account if it shuts down
- There's a trial so you can test it first
How EZLO does it
EZLO's API key needs only read and funding permissions, never withdrawals. You pay a flat yearly fee with no cut of your interest. The engine checks the market every 2 minutes, and new accounts get a free trial. System status is public on the status page.
If this is your first time lending on Bitfinex, start with the Bitfinex lending guide.