Whether to turn on Auto-Earn depends on your use case. It essentially helps you automatically lend idle USDT in your account to earn interest, without affecting normal trading. The yield is extra, but it locks up part of your funds' liquidity.
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Where Auto-Earn Yield Comes From and Its Costs
Auto-Earn (also called Trading Account Auto-Earn) is a value-added service launched by OKX. Qualified USDT and USDC in your strategy account are automatically lent to users on the platform who need to borrow for leverage trading, and you earn interest. Interest is paid hourly, and earnings are visible in real time.
How the yield is generated: Your funds are lent to margin trading users, and the rate floats based on market supply and demand. Historical data shows the average annualized yield for USDT Flexible Simple Earn is about 5.70%, and during special market conditions some periods may reach around 50%.
Platform fee split: 15% of the interest is taken as a risk reserve, and you receive the remaining 85%. ETH staking charges a 5% service fee, and SOL charges 1%.
The yield is floating: It is not a fixed rate; it depends on market borrowing demand. You can set a minimum lending rate yourself, and the system matches orders based on a "rate priority, time priority" rule.
Comparing Returns and Capital Lockup: Key Difference Between Two Modes
The biggest difference between Auto-Earn and Simple Earn is whether your funds can still be used for trading.
| Comparison | Auto-Earn | Simple Earn (Flexible) |
|---|---|---|
| Where funds go | Stays in your strategy account | Transferred to the "Simple Earn" product |
| Does it affect trading | No, funds can still be used as margin | After transfer, funds cannot be used for orders or trading |
| How to enable | Enabled by default, no manual action needed | Requires manual subscription |
| How to disable | After disabling, cannot withdraw or transfer for 24 hours | Can redeem anytime, funds arrive in real time |
| Suitable for | Users running strategies | Purely managing idle funds |
Risk Reminder: Auto-Earn interest is paid hourly, but after you disable the feature, there is a 24-hour fund lock period — during this time you cannot withdraw or transfer the USDT in Auto-Earn, but trading is unaffected. If you need to withdraw at any time, this 24-hour limit is something to keep in mind.
Scenario A: You Are Running Grid or Martingale Strategies — We Recommend Enabling It
If you are running spot grid, futures grid, martingale, or other strategies on OKX, your strategy account will have a lot of idle funds (unfilled order amounts, margin, etc.). If you do nothing with these funds, they just sit there and generate no yield.
Once you turn on Auto-Earn, this idle USDT is automatically lent to earn interest, without affecting your strategy at all — the funds remain in the strategy account, and your orders and margin are unaffected. It's like "earning twice from the same coin" — your strategy profits from price differences, and idle funds earn interest.
Scenario B: Your USDT Is Completely Idle and Not Used in Any Trading — We Suggest Using Simple Earn
If the USDT in your account is completely idle and not involved in any strategy or trading, then subscribing to Flexible Simple Earn is more suitable. The yield source is the same as Auto-Earn (both involve lending to margin users), but Flexible Simple Earn supports redemption at any time, with funds arriving in real time, without Auto-Earn's 24-hour lock period after disabling.
Scenario C: You Are Below VIP1 — The Feature Is Not Available
Auto-Earn is currently mainly available to VIP1 and above users. If you are not a VIP, you cannot use it for now, and Simple Earn is the alternative.
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After You Enable Auto-Earn
Verification: After enabling, in the OKX App's [Assets] or [Trading Account] page you can see the "Auto-Earn" status, including the amount lent, current rate, and historical earnings. If you disable the feature, you cannot withdraw or transfer for 24 hours, but trading is unaffected.
Next step: If you want your idle USDT to generate yield long-term without frequent operations, Auto-Earn is a "enable once, keeps running" solution. Note that after you enable and then later disable it, there is a 24-hour delay; if you might need to withdraw in the short term, using Simple Earn first will be more flexible.
