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Education only · not financial, tax or legal adviceCanadian facts checked 2026-10-31 · a MITEY site
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Tool · Borrowing & yield

APY reality check

Split an advertised yield into real income and reward tokens, subtract fees, and compare with a rate you choose.

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Mitey the yeti sitting with a small potted plant, with a token coin
Mitey says: A big number paid in a falling token is a smaller number. Do the arithmetic before the deposit.
Interest or trading fees.
At today's token price.
Your assumption, e.g. −40.
A rate you looked up (e.g. a GIC).
Advertised APY
12.68%
Your scenario, after fees and token price
10.23%
Base income
$423
Reward tokens (after price change)
$676
Fees and costs
−$76
Net gain
$1,023
Comparison rate gain
$300
Difference
$723
Break-even deposit
$691

Before tax and before smart-contract, de-peg or impermanent-loss risk. A comparison GIC at a CDIC member is insured up to $100,000 per category; crypto is not.

How this tool works

Advertised DeFi yields often combine a base rate (interest from borrowers or trading fees) with reward tokens paid by the protocol. Reward tokens are worth only what they sell for, and frequent claiming or compounding costs network fees.

Enter the base and reward APRs, how often you compound, your fee per action, one-time entry and exit costs, and your assumption for the reward token's price over the year. The tool shows the advertised APY, the net result in dollars, and the break-even deposit below which fees eat the yield.

Add a comparison rate you have looked up yourself, such as a GIC. The tool never fetches rates: no live yields appear on this site.

Risk is not in the number

A DeFi result above a GIC is not like-for-like: GIC deposits at CDIC members are insured up to $100,000 per category; crypto is not. Read DeFi vs GIC.

Limits

  • Rewards are assumed to accrue evenly, so they carry half the year's token price change on average.
  • Rates in DeFi change constantly; a one-year projection is a scenario, not a quote.
  • Ignores taxes, smart-contract risk and impermanent loss.

Questions people ask

What is the difference between APR and APY?

APR is the simple annual rate. APY includes compounding, so it is higher when earnings are reinvested. With 12% APR compounded monthly, APY is about 12.68%.

Why do DeFi yields change so much?

Base yields move with borrowing demand and trading volume, and reward-token yields move with the token's price and the protocol's emission schedule. A rate shown today can be very different next week.

Are DeFi rewards taxable in Canada?

CRA says staking rewards on a centralized platform are generally income when credited, but it has not published DeFi-specific guidance as of 2026-10-30. See staking and rewards.

Sources and dates

  • What's covered — Canada Deposit Insurance Corporationin force
    No date shown on page · checked 2026-10-30. Up to $100,000 per category per member institution; cryptocurrencies, including stablecoins, are not covered.
  • Reporting income from crypto-asset mining and staking activities — Canada Revenue Agencyin force
    Page date 2025-11-10 · checked 2026-10-30. Mining is usually a business; staking rewards on a centralized platform are generally income when credited. Silent on self-custody/DeFi staking.

Education only. Nothing on this page is financial, investment, tax or legal advice, or a recommendation to buy, sell, stake, lend or borrow any crypto-asset. Crypto-assets can lose some or all of their value and are not covered by CDIC. Canadian rules change: check the dated sources above and talk to a qualified professional about your situation. Full disclaimer.