Crypto lending platforms sit at both ends of the same market: they let you earn interest by depositing assets that the platform lends out, and they let you borrow cash or crypto against your holdings without selling them.

For a saver, the appeal is yield on idle coins and stablecoins; for a borrower, it is liquidity without a taxable sale. But the platforms vary widely in the rates they pay and charge, whether they are custodial or decentralized, how transparent they are about where the yield comes from, and how safe your deposit is, and after several high-profile lender failures, that last point matters more than any headline rate.

This guide compares six leading lending and interest platforms on what actually…