A Beginner's Guide To Earning Bitcoin Yield Through Lending
Earning yield on Bitcoin used to mean trusting a centralized lender - and many people learned the hard way that “not your keys, not your coins” is more than a slogan. On Starknet, things work differently. With Ready, you can lend wrapped Bitcoin (like WBTC) fully self-custodially, earn yield on it, and withdraw at any time. This guide breaks down how BTC lending actually works, why Starknet makes it practical, and how beginners can get started safely.
Why You Can’t Earn Yield on Native Bitcoin (But You Can With BTC Wrappers)
Bitcoin doesn’t have smart contracts on its base chain, so native BTC can’t be lent out automatically. That’s where BTC wrappers come in — tokens like WBTC, LBTC, tBTC, and SolvBTC - each a representation of Bitcoin on a smart-contract chain.
In Ready, these wrapped BTC assets are what allow you to:
- Enter lending pools
- Earn interest generated by supply–borrow markets
- Keep self-custody of your assets in smart contracts you control
- Earn BTCFI rewards
- Exit whenever you choose, with no lock-ups
This lets you earn yield on your long-term Bitcoin without sending it to a centralized company.
What “Lending Bitcoin” Actually Means in Ready
When you lend WBTC (or another supported wrapper) inside Ready, you’re supplying liquidity to a decentralized lending market on Starknet. Here’s the simple version:
- You supply WBTC to a lending pool.
- Borrowers take out over-collateralized loans from that pool.
- They pay interest.
- That interest becomes your yield (expressed as APY).
Everything is enforced transparently by smart contracts - no bank, no custodian, no counterparty trust.
And because Starknet is fast and cheap, this works even for smaller amounts that would be impractical on Ethereum L1.
What APY Can You Expect?
APYs vary based on supply, demand, and market conditions. Lending WBTC in Ready typically sits around ~2% APY, but it can move up or down depending on borrowing activity.
A few helpful points:
- APY is displayed clearly inside Ready before you lend.
- Your yield is earned continuously and withdrawable anytime.
- No lockups, no minimums.
- A large percentage of the yield is made up of BTCFI rewards
It’s a low-maintenance way to earn yield without touching your long-term BTC stack.
How to Start Earning Bitcoin Yield in Ready (Step-by-Step)
A beginner-friendly flow looks like this:
- Send or bridge BTC or a BTC wrapper (like WBTC, tBTC, LBTC, or SolvBTC) to Ready. e
- Open the Earn tab inside the app.
- Choose Lend WBTC (or another supported asset).
- Review the APY + details of the lending pool.
- Tap Invest
- Choose amount to invest
- Review Investment
- Confirm Investment
Congrats, your WBTC is now workng for you. You earn yield continuously, and can withdraw anytime.
Because everything stays self-custodial, your wrapped BTC never leaves your control -Ready can’t touch it.
Why Starknet Makes BTC Lending Practical
Most chains make lending costly for small balances. Starknet flips that:
- Ultra-low fees ⇒ profitable even with smaller amounts
- Fast transactions ⇒ near-instant lending/withdrawing
- Self-custody smart accounts ⇒ stronger security than seed phrases
- Native account abstraction ⇒ easier approvals, safer UX
You get L2 speed and affordability while still benefiting from Ethereum-grade security.
Risks You Should Understand First
No yield product is risk-free — even self-custodial ones. Key risks include:
- Smart contract risk: lending pools rely on code.
- Protocol risk: wrapped BTC depends on how each wrapper is designed.
- Variable APY: interest rates change over time.
What you avoid with Ready is custodial failure - no one can run off with your assets because you hold your keys and the contracts enforce the rules.
Simple Example: What You Might Earn Lending WBTC
Let’s say you lend $2,000 of WBTC at around 3% APY.
- After a year, you might earn roughly $60 in additional WBTC (depending on APY changes).
- You can withdraw at any time — even daily — with no penalty.
- You remain fully self-custodial the entire time.
It’s not “get rich quick” - it’s a predictable, low-maintenance, transparent way to grow your stack.
Who Is Bitcoin Lending Best For?
BTC lending in Ready is useful if you:
- Want to earn yield on long-term Bitcoin you aren’t planning to sell
- Prefer self-custody over centralized lenders
- Want a simple, low-effort yield strategy
- Want yield without liquidation risk (unlike borrowing)
- Like that you can exit instantly, anytime
It’s one of the most beginner-friendly ways to get started with BTCFi.
Final Thoughts
Bitcoin shouldn’t sit idle - and with Starknet + Ready, you can finally earn yield on your BTC wrappers safely, transparently, and self-custodially. Lending WBTC is one of the simplest ways to start earning Bitcoin yield without ever giving up control of your assets.
If you want to start putting your BTC to work and earn yield, download Ready today.
