Haru Invest Review

What Is Haru Invest?

Haru Invest is a crypto wealth management app registered in Singapore that offers high yields of up to 22.5% on your crypto deposits. In this review of Haru Invest, we will dive deeper into the platform and explore some risks associated with this type of investment. Is Haru Invest safe? Let’s find out in our Haru Invest review.

Haru in Numbers

Haru was launched in 2019 as a business unit of the blockchain fund Block Crafter which is based in South Korea, and approved as a crypto asset management fund in the British Virgin Islands.

Haru doesn’t publish any statistical information that would give you an idea about the platform’s track record.

During our research, Haru confirmed that the amount of assets under management is less than $1 B.

There is no information about the exact number of active users or the funds under management.

We were, however, able to retrieve the annualized average returns for the Haru Explore product, which hovers between 15% and 20% p.a.

Haru Invest Requirements

To deposit your crypto on Haru, you must meet the following requirements:

After all the above steps, you can deposit crypto on your dedicated crypto wallet on Haru.

Use Haru's supported crypto wallet address when depositing your crypto. 

Risk and Return

Many similar platforms in the crypto world promote yield on crypto deposits as a “risk-free” type of investment.

It is often compared to traditional bank deposits, which is not the case at all.

Haru Invest is slightly different from other competitors in the crypto-lending space. The platform doesn’t use lending activities as a way to generate yield.

Instead, Haru uses your funds and deploys them in their in-house algorithmic trading tools.

Midas Investments is also following a high-yielding business model.

Haru's business model is the following some of the following “yield generating strategies”:

Haru also makes some money through the spread of its crypto swap feature. In terms of fees, you can expect the following withdrawal fees: 0.0001 BTC, 0.005 ETH, 1 USDT.

There is also a performance fee of 15% from profits if one of your chosen strategies within the Earn Explore product segment exceeds a return of 15% per year.

While the platform promotes “risk-free arbitrage trading” on its website, this is something that should be taken with a grain of salt.

There is no “risk-free” yield of more than 25% per year.

Trading volatility with leverage or trading the spread on the price difference across various exchanges is not simple nor “risk-free”.

While their copy on the website can be perceived as misleading, at least Haru does inform its users in the terms and conditions that they may lose their deposits.

In terms of in-app security, the platform provides a 2FA, and your assets are stored on cold storage, provided by BitGo, a reputable custodian.

When reviewing the platform, Haru doesn’t provide a feature where you can whitelist your withdrawal addresses, as on some other platforms, such as CoinLoan.

Now that we have covered some information about the platform’s business model and basic safety features, let’s look at the platform’s return.

Haru only offers yield on four digital assets: Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP and Tether USD.

The yield that you get depends on the product that you choose.

Haru Wallet Rates

Haru Earn (Wallet) is a simple “savings account” type of product with instant liquidity and no lock-up period. You are receiving daily compound interest directly to your Haru wallet. This is the lowest-risk product with great flexibility and competitive rates that Haru Invest is offering.

You will earn the following rates:

• 5.3% APY on Bitcoin
• 5.2% APY on ETH
• 6.5% APY on USDT
• 2.5% APY on XRP

Keen to explore all crypto interest accounts? Navigate to our guide about the highest-yielding crypto interest accounts.

Haru Earn Plus

The Earn Plus product offers stable daily interest payments with a yield of up to 14% per year. The lock-up duration of your assets for this product varies from 15 to 365 days.

Here is an overview of the rates that you can expect to earn on Haru Invest, based on your lock-up period:

As you can see, the platform pays out up to 13.5% APY if you lock up your Bitcoin for one year.

Haru offers some of the highest yields on the market compared to the competition. Note that earning yield on XRP isn't currently supported with the Earn Plus and Earn Explore products.

Haru Earn Explore

The Earn Explore segment consists of various investment strategies that payout the yield biweekly.

The yield depends on the asset type (crypto) and the lock-up period, which ranges from 1 to 12 months.

The platform offers three different products which we have mentioned before:

“Earn like the best”

• Target Rate (annual): 25%+
• Asset type: Bitcoin
• Investment period: 3 Months +
• Strategy: Algorithmic Hybrid High-Frequency Trading

“Surf the volatility”

• Target Rate (annual): 22.5%+
• Asset type: Tether USD
• Investment period: 1 Month +
• Strategy: Algorithmic Fiat-Future Market Trading & Hedging

“Beyond staking”

• Target Rate (annual): 21.5%+
• Asset type: Ethereum
• Investment period: 3 Months +
• Strategy: Algorithmic Future-Future Market High-Frequency Trading

As you can see, Haru uses catchy names to make its high-risk, high-frequency algorithmic trading strategies more appealing to ordinary folks.

Be aware that you risk your principal by participating in Haru’s Explore product.

Haru uses less risky strategies such as arbitrage trading for the Haru Wallet and Earn Plus products. They automatically exploit the gaps between two spot markets - basically buying and selling simultaneously on two exchanges.

What’s worth noting is that the minimum deposit to enter the Haru Explore strategies is extremely low, so you can start using it from just 10 USDT.

Learn more about the currently highest interest rates on USDT.

You should also know that the Earn Explore product doesn’t promise a specific return but simply gives an estimate of what’s the targeted yield. You can consult the “performance history” section to get an idea of how a specific strategy has performed in the past.

Remember that this is just a simple chart with no audits or proof. Haru informed us, however, that they are currently in the process of becoming audited by a 3rd party auditing firm. The platform also recently obtained a Money Service Business license from the U.S. FinCEN and raised new funding at a $284M valuation.

Is Haru Safe?

Let’s explore some of the platform risks you should be aware of.

Who Owns Haru?

Haru is part of Block Crafters, a blockchain-type company that’s active in crypto banking and crypto fund management.

The group comprises various business units, including Haru, Block Crafters Capital, Block Crafters Acceleration, Block Crafters Consulting, and D.Street.

From our chat with the support of Haru, we found out that Block Crafters is headquartered in Seoul, South Korea. The location is: 17F 327, Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

This is also where the team behind Haru is operating, despite Haru being registered in Singapore (38 North Canal Road, Singapore 059294), the official HQ of the Haru business unit.

You should know that Haru is a platform that connects users with Block Crafters Capital, the business unit that does the actual “asset management” (algorithmic-trading).

Who leads the team?

Haru is led by CEO Hugo Lee. You can review his LinkedIn profile here. Our quick background check of Hugo didn’t yield any suspicion of scams or fraudulent behavior in the past.

Unfortunately, there is no introduction of him or the team on the website, meaning you have to explore an external resource such as LinkedIn.

Where is Haru based?

Haru’s official HQ is in 38 North Canal Road, Singapore 059294 while the team is operating from 17F 327, Gangnam-daero, Seocho-gu, Seoul, Republic of Korea.

Are There Any Suspicious Terms and Conditions?

When reviewing the terms and conditions, we did not spot any significant clauses that differ from other crypto management apps.

What’s worth noting is that the platform may change the terms and conditions anytime without prior notice.

In terms of conditions, you will also find a list of restricted countries you won’t be able to sign up from. The list mainly includes countries in the Middle East, Africa, and some countries in the Caribbean.

As expected, there is also a clause that says that Haru is not responsible for any losses and that you might lose all of your deposits.

There is no clause regarding the transfer of ownership of your assets to Haru. During our chat with the support, the team confirmed that they “consider that the assets belong to the users” and not the platform.

Our Opinion of Haru Invest

Haru offers a high-risk and potentially high-reward investment opportunity for crypto holders.

Haru has recently obtained the Money Service (MSB) License from U.S. FinCEN, enabling the company to act as a money transmitter service in the United States. This license has been granted to Haruus LLC, a U.S.incorporated subsidiary for Haru Invest.

Unfortunately, the platform does not yet provide any relevant statistical information or audited financial reports.

You should consider this when deciding whether to deposit your crypto on Haru or not.

From a usability perspective, the platform offers yield only on four crypto-assets, a relatively low number compared to other crypto-lending platforms.

The offered yield on Haru is very high, but it certainly comes with a risk and lowers liquidity as you must lock in your crypto assets to obtain the highest yield.

If you are a risk-friendly crypto hodler, you might as well expose yourself to a small portion of your crypto holdings on Haru.

We have been testing all features of Haru Invest since the beginning of 2022, and so far, our experience has been as expected.

Here is a sneak peek into our portfolio on Haru and the current yield we earn with Earn and Earn Explore products.

Be aware that you might lose your assets and that no specific yield is guaranteed. That’s particularly the case with Haru’s Explore strategies.

So far, Haru's CEO has refused our invitation to talk to us about the platform's business model.

Usability

From a usability standpoint, Haru doesn’t provide anything that would take your breath away.

The KYC requires you to provide proof of your address which is standard on most crypto lending or trading platforms.

Haru doesn’t support FIAT transactions, nor can you buy crypto on the platform, which makes us wonder what type of services Haru requires your proof of address for.

Haru Switch

Haru offers a swap feature which is called Switch. This tool allows you to swap between the three supported cryptocurrencies.

Keep in mind that there is a spread and a swap fee that you will have to pay. Those fees are visible during your swaps. The swap fee ranges between 0.05% and 0.9% per swap.

Haru’s swap features support the market as well as limit orders.

The Switch feature also enables you to participate in yield farming and provide liquidity to the community pool in exchange for yield.

This Switch Pool targets a 35% interest rate per year. You can select your assets, but you must commit them for at least three months.

"Farming"

• Target Rate (annual): 35%
• Asset type: All assets
• Investment period: 3 Months +
• Strategy: Liquidity Provider to community-driven swap pool

To learn more about this strategy, we suggest informing yourself directly on the Haru platform.

Haru Freeze

While some platforms in the industry offer their utility token, a way to lock the user into their ecosystem, Haru provides an alternative to this strategy called Haru Freeze.

Haru Freeze is a product that includes two collectibles, Frost and Crystals.

By purchasing those “digital collectibles”, you will boost your rates and lower your fees on Haru.

You can purchase these perks within the Earn Plus product.

Liquidity

If you are not participating in any specific products that Haru offers, you are receiving a very competitive yield on your crypto holdings by keeping them in your Haru wallet. You can access those funds anytime.

Haru reserves up to 24 hours to process your withdrawals (uncommitted funds). However, the support team informed us that typically they process it faster (within 10 hours). This is slower than on most other crypto-generating platforms.

Haru is trading most of the users' assets, meaning they don't store your crypto on hot wallets, which increases the withdrawal time.

As you might have noticed, Haru also offers products that lock up your crypto for a specific amount of time in exchange for a higher yield.

Some of the products on Haru could be compared to Crypto.com’s Earn product, where you also need to stake your coins in exchange for a higher yield.

The fact is, however, that you cannot withdraw your funds anytime. Should the market drop and you want to liquidate your assets, you won’t be able to do so if they are locked on Haru.

Alternative crypto-lending platforms like  YouHodler or CoinLoan offer lower yields, but you can exit your position instantly or within 24 hours on CoinLoan.

Support

Our experience with the support was excellent. We used the platform’s live chat option, and Haru’s support team could answer all of our questions and provide additional clarity to some of the information we could not find on the website.

The response time during business hours was around 5 minutes. The quality of Haru's support is as high as on other platforms such as YouHodler and CoinLoan.