{"id":22010,"date":"2021-07-15T14:56:23","date_gmt":"2021-07-15T21:56:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/?p=22010"},"modified":"2022-03-18T12:36:48","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T16:36:48","slug":"voyager-crypto-invest-review","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/coincentral.com\/voyager-crypto-invest-review\/","title":{"rendered":"Voyager Crypto Invest: Features, Perks, Cons, and Alternatives"},"content":{"rendered":"

Voyager Invest is a crypto interest account and broker, perhaps most notable its commission-free trading<\/strong> and its ability for users to earn interest<\/strong> on their holdings. The app excels in its simplicity and has the typical cryptocurrency exchange features: a wallet accessible by mobile app, a basic exchange interface, and a newsroom.\u00a0<\/span>The following Voyager Invest review will explore the Voyager Invest product, company, and in-depth information on its mechanics.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Cool Perk #1 Commission-Free Trading:<\/b> So, how does Voyager offer commission-free trading? It routes its customers\u2019 crypto transactions to various exchanges, helping to find the best rates.<\/span><\/p>\n

Cool Perk #2 Cryptocurrency Interest Account: <\/b>Funds you hold in Voyager automatically earn interest unless you opt-out in the app settings. Its rates are competitive with most <\/span>cryptocurrency interest account<\/span><\/a> options.<\/span><\/p>\n

Voyager Invest Quick Summary<\/span><\/h2>\n

Voyager Digital Ltd. traces its origins to 2017, and the Voyager app went live in 2019.\u00a0 Today, it is regarded as a good entry point for users of all experience levels, allowing them to manage their portfolios without operating different accounts with various exchanges.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n
  1. Voyager <\/span>helps users buy cryptocurrencies<\/b> from over a dozen exchanges within its app.\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n
  2. It allows users to earn <\/span>up to 10% APY on 50+ cryptocurrencies<\/b>, including BTC, ETH, USDC, LTC, DAI, DODGE, and BCH. <\/span>Users must maintain a <\/span>minimum balance<\/b> to qualify for crypto interest.<\/span><\/li>\n
  3. Voyager is <\/span>available in all states in the US, besides New York. <\/b>It\u00a0is not yet available internationally.<\/span><\/li>\n
  4. Voyager is \u201c<\/span>100% commission-free<\/b>\u201d and only accepts fees when it saves you money while brokering.<\/span><\/li>\n
  5. It has a remarkably <\/span>straightforward signup process<\/b> and allows users to begin trading as soon as their transfers clear.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ol>\n

    Current Sign-Up Bonus:<\/strong> Get $25 when trading $100<\/a> on Voyager Invest.<\/p>\n

    Voyager Invest is unique in that it is a publically traded company, listed on the Canadian Stock Exchange (CSE) under the symbol\u00a0VYGR.CN<\/a>. It is also a\u00a0 FinCen<\/a> registered Money Services Business, and it trades in US OTC markets under the symbol VYGVF.<\/p>\n

    The Voyager Team<\/span><\/h1>\n

    \"Voyager<\/p>\n

    Voyager Invest is a US-regulated public company based in Jersey City, New Jersey.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Voyager\u2019s founding team has decades of experience in brokerage, investment, and market structure.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Its Founder and CEO is Stephen Ehlrich, who also founded broker-dealer <\/span>Lightspeed Financial<\/span>. <\/span><\/p>\n

    The rest of the C-suite includes Phillip Eytan, Gaspard de Dreuzy, and Oscar Salazar, the trio who co-founded <\/span>Pager<\/span>: a digital healthcare solution.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    CEO <\/span>Stephen Ehlrich<\/span><\/a> has worked in executive roles in the finance industry for decades. He spent seven years as the CEO of E*TRADE Professional Trading, a brokerage platform, Morgan Stanley subsidiary, and over six years as the CEO of Lightspeed Financial, an electronic trading company.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Chairman <\/span>Phillip Eytan<\/span><\/a> worked with Morgan Stanly as a Telecom M&A Analyst. He also served as a director and founding investor with Socure, digital identity and fraud verifying service, and Pager.<\/span><\/p>\n

    President <\/span>Gaspard de Dreuzy<\/span><\/a> is a co-founder and the president of Pager and was the co-founder and CEO of Kapitall, an online stockbroker with video game-like trading tools, and free practice accounts for beginner investors.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    More popularly known as the Founding CTO and co-founder of Uber, <\/span>Oscar Salazar<\/span><\/a> brings his experience building <\/span>consumer-driven experiences<\/span><\/a> to advise the Voyager team. He is also a co-founder and the CTO of Pager.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Voyager Investors<\/b>: How Much Has It Raised?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Voyager has raised over $100.1M in four funding rounds, comprising $110.5K during its Series C in October 2020 and 100M in a Series D in February 2021.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Voyager<\/span> is a publicly-traded company registered under the ticket <\/span>CNSX: VYGR<\/span><\/a>. Their stock opened with $0.95 in its Feb 11, 2019, IPO, and its early investors include <\/span>Streamlined Capital<\/span><\/a> and <\/span>Stifel Financial Corp<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Voyager
    Voyager Invest review company bio on Crunchbase<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Voyager Invest Review and Interest Rates<\/span><\/h2>\n

    One distinct advantage Voyager has over other broker options is that it charges no commission<\/strong>. Whether users are looking to buy or sell their cryptocurrency, they\u2019ll only pay the price quoted for that transaction.\u00a0<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

    However, if Voyager manages to broker a deal better than the quoted price, they\u2019ll keep a <\/span>small percentage of the saved amount and send the rest to you.\u00a0<\/b><\/p>\n

    Voyager uses a technique coined <\/span>\u201cSmart Order Routing\u201d<\/b> to take advantage of pricing disparities between its 12+ partnered exchanges, getting you the best rate for your trade.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Get $25 when signing up and trading $100 on Voyager Invest.<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

    The Voyager broker supports over 50 cryptocurrencies.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"commision<\/p>\n

    When you transfer funds into your Voyager wallet, you automatically begin earning interest on those funds. Voyager offers up to 10% APY on 20+ tokens, slightly less than popular interest offerings like <\/span>Celsius<\/span><\/a> and slightly more than <\/span>BlockFi<\/span><\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

    To encourage the use of its in-house token VGX<\/strong>, Voyager offers higher APY rates to users who opt to receive their interest in VGX. This feature is not available in the US.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Unlike many crypto interest account providers, Voyager requires users to have a minimum monthly balance of each token held in their wallets to earn interest. These rates vary and are changed frequently.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Generally, you can earn up to 9% APY on stablecoins, up to 6.25% on BTC with a minimum balance of 0.01BTC, and up to 5.25% APY on ETH with a minimum of 0.05%.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"Rtes
    Rates as of 7\/15\/2021. We will do our best to keep this Voyager Invest Review updated as rates change.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    How to Sign Up for Voyager Invest + Promotions<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Voyager simplified its account creation and verification considerably compared to most other cryptocurrency brokers, who require a complex signup and verification process before connecting users to the market.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    The entire process can take only a couple of minutes.\u00a0 Once you sign up and submit some basic information, you can link a payment method, fund your account, and begin trading as soon as your transfer goes through.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    \"The
    The sign-up process (Source: Voyager Invest)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Voyager\u2019s app has an in-built, constantly refreshing crypto news feed, and a profit-and-loss calculator. Users have access to up-to-date information on the cryptocurrency market movements and portfolio balances, profits, and losses over time. This feature is beneficial if you have many assets, as the profit and loss tool can help you figure out which tokens are doing well and which aren\u2019t.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Overall, Voyager\u2019s mobile app is a well-thought-out product. However, if you prefer managing your investments from your laptop, you\u2019re out of luck\u2013 Voyager has yet to release a desktop version. Its service is available <\/span>only<\/i><\/b> on mobile at the time of this writing<\/b>, which is still pretty useful for trading on the go. However, Voyager is only available in the US and operates in all US states but in New York.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Another thing to note is that<\/span> Voyager doesn\u2019t support trading between cryptocurrencies at this time. <\/b>You can only purchase crypto with fiat, and you can only convert your crypto to fiat, not a different coin. <\/span><\/p>\n

    So, if you\u2019d like to sell some of your LTC for ETH, you\u2019d have to convert the LTC to USD, then send in a buy request for ETH. However, Voyager does allow you to transfer your crypto to external wallets.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How Does Voyager Invest Make Money?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    Like most crypto interest account services, Voyager makes money by taking loans at a particular rate (the interest it offers you) and then using it as capital to provide loans at higher rates to corporate borrowers.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Secondly, Voyager makes money on trades initiated by its users. If Voyager can get a better exchange rate for a given transaction that it has shown its user in the original price quote, it makes a percentage of the savings on that order. The remainder of the funds is sent to the user.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Is Your Crypto Safe With Voyager Invest?<\/span><\/h2>\n

    You\u2019re probably quite interested in making sure any assets you may hold in Voyager are safe. It\u2019s worth noting that as crypto can not be FDIC insured, your funds are never entirely risk-free. However, here are some steps Voyager takes to help mitigate that risk.<\/span><\/p>\n

    Platform Safety<\/span><\/h3>\n

    Voyager uses 2FA and industry-standard encryption and other safety regulations to ensure that users of its platform are protected. However, Voyager\u2019s domain name system server was hacked in December 2020. When it noticed the breach, the company forcefully took the system offline to secure its customers. According to Voyager, no funds or client data were compromised during the attack.<\/span><\/p>\n

    How are your assets protected?<\/span><\/h3>\n
    \"No
    No Voyager Invest Review would be complete without noting that only USD is insured by FDIC, not your crypto – plan accordingly!<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

    Voyager\u2019s partner bank insures all USD in its custody up to $250,000. Despite this, your crypto is not FDIC or SDIC insured. Voyager is a licensed and regulated public company in the US and undergoes regular audits.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    Voyager uses a number of custodians to protect its user\u2019s assets, including Fireblocks and Ledger Vault. These custodians combine safety best practices, insurance to store crypto in hardware and hot wallets.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

    In April 2021, Voyager exceeded $3.3 billion worth of assets under its management.<\/span><\/p>\n

    \n\"Assets<\/p>\n

    VGX and the Voyager Loyalty Program<\/span><\/h2>\n

    VGX is the native, proprietary token of the Voyager platform. Voyager uses it to reward its users. These rewards can include earning higher interest rates (on VGX and tokens), cashback rewards, and more.<\/span><\/p>\n