The DeFi Chronicle: How I plan on earning over $1,200 in passive income from DeFi this month

After spending months on CeFi and DeFi platforms, I am challenging myself to earn a 5% monthly interest rate on a portfolio blended between conservative and aggressive options. My goal is to earn high returns while preserving my principle and controlling transaction costs.

Photo by Ishan @seefromthesky on Unsplash

Last year I began earning passive income with my crypto via centralized platforms like Nexo, Celsius, and BlockFi. All three platforms have provided me with mixed experiences and overall I am happy with my results. I decimated my high yield online savings account (0.40% APR) and have established a nice crypto portfolio from dollar-cost averaging. As the crypto space has progressed, I have ventured into decentralized finance with mixed results.

My entire crypto portfolio is mixed between aggressive/speculative, mid-range, and conservative investments. I am the judge of these risk levels and it is completely subjective. Keep in mind that my strategy is a work in progress and has changed and will probably change further. Also, this is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. This is based on my experiences and risk tolerance.

My goal over the next 30 days is to make over $1,200 on less than $24,000. I want to be open to the appreciation of my initial capital, but also want to control risk and mitigate against complete loss. A $1,200 income equates to 5% for the month. This equates to 10–15 years of saving in a high-yield saving account at 0.40% APR(depending upon whether you compound interest or not).

Since I don’t want to get destroyed by fees, I am focusing my aggressive investments on Binance Smart Chain and Polygon where transactions are much cheaper and I will be doing more transactions. Both risk and potential ROI are much higher on these investments. Now, let’s break down the plan.

Conservative Investment

$11,200 in USDC will be lent out via UnfederalReserve. The current APY for lending USDC on lending.unfederalreserve.com is 28.93%. Over the past month, I have experienced around a 22% annualized APR. If my yield over the next month is similar, I should see about a $206 monthly income. I already have my funds in the platform, so I am assuming a $35…