About
APYterminal helps you compare crypto earn, staking and yield products across exchanges. The goal is not only to show a rate, but to show enough product context that terms, tiers and payout rules are visible before they become surprises.
What is Simple Earn?
Simple Earn is a common exchange label for products that let you subscribe idle crypto assets and earn a return. In practice, these products are usually split into flexible term and fixed term products.
The structure is simple on the surface: you deposit an asset, the platform applies product rules, and yield accrues according to the APR and timing model. The important part is not only the advertised number, but the conditions behind it.
Easy subscription
Exchanges position these products as a way to put idle balances to work. Flexible products are usually redeemable at any time, while longer-term or fixed products can offer a different return profile in exchange for lower liquidity.
Auto-earn
Some platforms also support auto-earn behavior, where idle balances in spot or unified accounts are automatically subscribed into flexible earn products. That matters because the actual yield experience can depend on whether rewards are left idle, paid out, or automatically recycled.
Flexible term
Flexible products usually do not require a lock-up period. You can invest at any time and redeem at any time, subject to the platform’s current liquidity and product-specific rules.
What is the real-time APR?
Real-time APR usually reflects the recent annualized return over a selected timeframe and can update hourly. It is often more useful than an estimated APR because it is closer to the rate actually used to calculate accrual.
How is yield calculated and when is it credited?
A common pattern is that yield starts accruing from the next full hour after you invest and is credited later, often once per day on a T+1 basis. If you redeem, the redeemed balance typically stops earning for the redemption hour and after.
Hourly yield = Effective investment amount × APR ÷ 365 ÷ 24 Daily yield = Hourly yield × Number of investment hours
What is the effective investing amount?
The effective investing amount is the balance that is currently eligible for yield calculation. Newly subscribed assets often become effective starting from the next hour instead of immediately.
Can yield compound?
Not always. Some products do not compound automatically, which means rewards need to be subscribed again manually. Others offer auto-earn behavior that reinvests eligible rewards once a minimum threshold is reached.
When can invested tokens be redeemed?
Flexible products are usually redeemable at any time, but practical redemption can still depend on asset pool utilization or platform rules. That is why a flexible label alone is not enough to compare products properly.
What is tiered APR?
Tiered APR means different parts of the same position earn different rates. For example, the first tranche of a balance can receive a bonus-enhanced APR, while the remaining amount earns the lower normal APR. This matters because the headline APR may apply only to part of the position.
Fixed term
Fixed term products require you to lock assets for a set duration. The APR and investment term are usually fixed at subscription, and both principal and yield are credited when the product matures.
How is yield calculated and when is it credited?
In fixed term products, yield often starts accruing on the next day after investment, not the next hour. The general formula is simpler than flexible products because it is based on investment days.
Total yield = Effective investment amount × APR ÷ 365 × Investment days
When can invested tokens be redeemed?
Most fixed term products keep principal locked until maturity. Some may allow early redemption, but only under specific conditions. That makes the term itself as important as the rate.
Why can the investment token differ from the reward token?
Some plans distribute yield in one or more assets different from the token you deposited. In those cases, the displayed APR can represent a combined value across multiple reward tokens, and the realized payout can differ slightly from the estimate.
Why APYterminal tracks more than the rate
A yield product is not only an APY number. It is also a term, a lock-up, a payout schedule, a tier structure and sometimes a different reward asset. If you compare only one percentage, you miss the operating rules that shape the real outcome.
That is the reason APYterminal exists: to make product conditions visible before they become surprises. We want it to be obvious whether a product is flexible or fixed, whether the rate is tiered, and how the yield mechanics actually work.
Practical takeaways
- Flexible does not mean identical across exchanges.
- Real-time APR is usually more useful than an estimated APR when you care about actual accrual.
- Tiered APR means the displayed rate may apply only to part of your balance.
- Fixed term products are easier to model, but they trade flexibility for locked duration.
- Reward token differences matter when returns are paid in a separate asset.
The formulas and explanations on this page are educational summaries adapted from exchange-style Simple Earn documentation. Exact product rules can differ by exchange and by product.