If you need an overview on Terra-Luna ecosystem including Anchor protocol, this is where I got most of my grounding from:

He explains Anchor on part 2.

I use Mirror for stocks/shares liquidity farming, where I can make money being market maker and co-owning the whole thing with governance tokens. But start with basics, Mirror is the next level. It took me a few months to get to understand all.

Watch all 4 parts and hopefully you will 'click'

But.... 85%APR to borrow? Who pays that? (and these loans require collateral too. That's loansharking rates)

No, they actually pay you for borrowing! It's 85% APR paid to you in ANC governance tokens, which you can then exchange to USD.

The protocol earns on your Luna collateral.

Mr.November wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 11:28 am If you need an overview on Terra-Luna ecosystem including Anchor protocol, this is where I got most of my grounding from:

He explains Anchor on part 2.

I use Mirror for stocks/shares liquidity farming, where I can make money being market maker and co-owning the whole thing with governance tokens. But start with basics, Mirror is the next level. It took me a few months to get to understand all.

Watch all 4 parts and hopefully you will 'click'

I am going to try.

Here's 2 probably very stupid questions:

Can you just put US$ in, like real actual dollars, not crypto ones?

Do you have to buy Terra coins (1 year High/Low $0.20 - $22.33 -- Current price $8.47, so a tad volatile)

Can you just put US$ in, like real actual dollars, not crypto ones?

Well, yes, if it's all too confusing to do yourself, you can use Coinlist, which is an intermediary. They offer easily accessible Anchor inside their platform. You can deposit cash (wire transfer) to Coinlist, exchange there for UST and deposit on Anchor. https://coinlist.co/clt?referral_code=AYWXMN. This is my referral link for Coinlist, if you use it to sign up, you will get $10 reward once you exchange $100+ there.

If you are completely new to crypto, start with exchanges / custodians. I compiled a useful list of exchanges that pay bonuses here:

https://fringeinvestor.com.

For example Swissborg - you will get up to 17% on USD, Celsius 8.88% on GBP/AUD/EUR, and even 5.5% on gold! it's much easier to comprehend, plus they all pay nice sign up rewards.

The downside of using custodian wallets / exchanges is that they need to verify KYC (passport, proof of address) and actually THEY hold your funds (which is same as any MFI). I am using those for smaller amounts, but with larger sums I use DeFI like Anchor or Mirror without any intermediary.

You can't use fiat dollars in the crypto world, you need to exchange your dollars to crypto dollars on an exchange first. Personally, I use Binance's P2P to trade between fiat and crypto. Plenty of sellers / buyers using ABA Bank.

Do you have to buy Terra coins (1 year High/Low $0.20 - $22.33 -- Current price $8.47, so a tad volatile)

No, you can exchange your USDT directly to UST on Terra Bridge here: https://bridge.terra.money/
Just create Terra Wallet first (Terra Station) and send USDT from Binance in BEP20 (BSC) protocol to the bridge above.
But again, you can just use Coinlist as intermediary.

Meanwhile back on topic:
HKL is no longer a microfinance institution. It has turned into a commercial bank quite some time ago. It also received a nice cash injection last fall. This might have been response to increasing non-performing loans in the 2nd quarter.
Since August,if my disturbed mind serves me right, MFIs and banks can restructure such loans following a permission from the government. This makes it more difficult to asses their situation. WB finance received an even larger injection from its parent company Woori Bank of Korea.

I am not too worried about HKL or Woori Bank at this time.

I learned today that the current rate is actually 7.25% for the 36 month FTDs.

You better go for the 7% and monthly interest withdrawal. What the banks in Cambodia usually forget to mention is that there is no compound interest. So after 36 months you simply get 3 times the 7%. If you put the money down for only one year then maturity interest is better.

7% also at Lolc and Prasac.

Pizzalover wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:29 pm You better go for the 7% and monthly interest withdrawal. What the banks in Cambodia usually forget to mention is that there is no compound interest. So after 36 months you simply get 3 times the 7%. If you put the money down for only one year then maturity interest is better.

7% also at Lolc and Prasac.

One year maturity growth account at Prasac is still 7.25%.

Mr.November wrote: ↑Mon Jul 12, 2021 10:14 am
FYI there are leveraged liquidity pools that allow for over 40% per year on USD in crypto (multiple stablecoins on e.g. DFYN or Curve Protocol on Polygon network), they are slightly more risky due to factors such as possible USDT de-pegging, but still less risky than holding an IOU from a Cambodian MFI paying 8%!

After I've discovered DeFi apps I am only using banks for daily expenses, cashing out and getting paid. There is no return.

Hasn't USDT (Tether) been shown to be not actually backed by USD 1 for 1 like they claimed?
Quite risky?..

https://www.forbes.com/sites/francescop ... ff26d9451b

Cooldude wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:47 pm

Pizzalover wrote: ↑Tue Jul 13, 2021 1:29 pm You better go for the 7% and monthly interest withdrawal. What the banks in Cambodia usually forget to mention is that there is no compound interest. So after 36 months you simply get 3 times the 7%. If you put the money down for only one year then maturity interest is better.

7% also at Lolc and Prasac.

One year maturity growth account at Prasac is still 7.25%.

Yup and at other places. That's why 1 year maturity is better than the monthly. The moment you got beyond 12 months you better start calculating. Enough people are fooled by their home country experiences about compound interest.If you have 36 months, you will get not a cent on the first and second year interest. I had staff pointing out and advising me on the higher rate. When I explained my decision the answer was : 'Oh, you know that...'

Hasn't USDT (Tether) been shown to be not actually backed by USD 1 for 1 like they claimed?
Quite risky?..

Of course there are risks with higher returns, but in my view a $60+ billion Tether, trusted by many major financial institutions, seems tad less risky than a Cambodian MFI.

There are also a dozen of other stablecoins now apart from Tether - the one with the best vibe currently is USDC issued by Circle and $26.4 billion market cap.

Personally I use UST on Luna-Terra protocol (as opposed to USDT - Tether) as it's a stablecoin tethered to USD by a clever algorithm rather than by cash backing it.