I Tried Yield Farming for a Week — Here’s What Happened….

Not what you think.....

Yield farming is something everyone in the crypto space has heard about, but not everyone truly understands.

Huge returns, fast profits, no sweat, right?

Well, I spent a whole week deep into it, trying out different platforms to see if it really lived up to the hype.

Spoiler: it’s not as easy as it sounds. Here’s what happened:

Day 1: Getting Started with Aave, Compound, and Yearn

I jumped in on Day 1 by researching some platforms that I knew were trusted but had varying levels of risk: Aave, Compound, and Yearn.finance.

My strategy was to spread my funds across each platform to see which one would give me the best returns.

I started by moving 1 ETH (about $1,500 at the time) to Aave, aiming for a relatively stable return.

Then, I added 0.5 ETH ($750) to Compound, mainly because I had read that it was known for being one of the safer options in the space.

Finally, I decided to experiment with Yearn.finance, depositing 0.2 ETH ($300) because their yield was high but a little sketchy in terms of long-term stability.

I didn’t expect immediate results.

I knew it would take time for my funds to start accruing rewards, but my main focus was on observing how each platform functioned and whether the returns would be consistent.

Day 2: Watching My Funds Start to Grow (But Slowly)

By Day 2, things started to look a little more promising. On Aave, I noticed my interest slowly growing — about $1.80 in rewards for my 1 ETH deposit.

It wasn’t a lot, but it was something.

Compound was also showing similar growth — roughly $1.50 in rewards, which wasn’t much considering the gas fees I’d paid to move the assets around.

This was something I hadn’t fully accounted for. Gas fees weren’t enormous, but they were eating into my profits.

Yearn.finance was a bit different. I wasn’t earning as much in raw numbers ($0.70 in rewards by Day 2), but I was keeping a close eye on the platform’s volatility. At this point, I was pretty much just watching everything, adjusting my expectations, and getting familiar with how these platforms work.

Day 3: Realizing Gas Fees Are the Hidden Culprit

By Day 3, I started to realize something important: gas fees were eating into my profits way more than I’d expected. Sure, the platforms themselves were working fine, but moving my assets around — whether for rebalancing or adding more to pools — was starting to chip away at my rewards.

For example, I had made a small profit on Aave and Compound, but when you factored in the gas fees of about $10 per transaction, it quickly became clear that these platforms weren’t as “free” as they seemed. I was already down around $10 after all the transfers from Day 1.

On Yearn, the situation was a bit trickier. The yields were higher, but so were the risks. I watched as my rewards fluctuated — up by $2 one moment, down by $3 the next. That’s the nature of yield farming, especially with platforms that offer higher returns.

Day 4: Moving Funds to Maximize Earnings

By Day 4, I started moving things around. I pulled a bit from Compound and shifted it to Aave, since Aave was providing slightly higher returns at that point. I kept my 0.2 ETH on Yearn for now, but I was getting nervous. The volatility was too much for my liking.

I ended up earning around $2.50 from Aave after moving my funds, which was a solid increase from the first two days.

However, I wasn’t even close to covering the gas fees from earlier. In total, by Day 4, I was looking at a net gain of only about $5 across all platforms, but my $10 gas fee from Day 1 had me in the red by $5.

Day 5: A Bump in Rewards — But a Sudden Setback

Day 5 was a pivotal day. Aave and Compound both started to deliver slightly higher returns, bringing my total to around $6 for the day. But then came the unexpected: I woke up to see that Yearn had experienced a major dip in value. The token I had staked had lost nearly 10% of its value overnight.

This hit hard. My 0.2 ETH staked in Yearn had effectively lost about $30 in value. While my other platforms were still in the green, this loss hurt my total gains. By Day 5, I was at a net loss of about $20. Even though I had gained from Aave and Compound, the volatility of Yearn was starting to make me question the whole venture.

Day 6: Attempting to Rebalance and Recover

On Day 6, I made a key decision: I moved everything I could back into Aave and Compound to minimize risk and get steady returns. I wasn’t going to stick with Yearn after the hit I took. Instead, I began to compound my rewards from Aave by staking them directly on the platform, aiming to get those rewards working for me.

By now, I had learned to be very strategic about my gas fees, so I limited transactions. The $3 from Aave and Compound came with a few more rewards due to staking, bringing my total for Day 6 to $9. Still, I had lost around $20 from my earlier experiment with Yearn, and my net position was looking grim.

Day 7: The Final Numbers

After a full week, I wrapped up my experiment. Here’s the breakdown:

• Aave: Earned around $12 from staking and lending over the week.

• Compound: Earned around $9, though I had to pay some gas fees on moving funds.

• Yearn: Lost about $30 in value due to volatility.

After deducting gas fees (around $15 total), my final net position was a loss of about $24. The high yield from Yearn was tempting, but the risk and volatility were too much for me to handle without major losses.

Was It Worth It?

In hindsight, was it worth it? Not really. I didn’t lose big, but I didn’t make much either.

The lesson here is clear: don’t chase the high returns without understanding the risks.

Platforms like Aave and Compound can provide steady returns, but if you’re looking for big rewards, you need to be prepared for wild swings — especially with platforms like Yearn.

I’d say yield farming is something to consider only if you have a solid risk management plan in place.

Keep your eyes on gas fees, avoid overextending on high-risk platforms, and always remember: the rewards aren’t guaranteed, even when the yields look promising.

For now, I’ll stick to low-risk platforms that give me steady returns, but Yearn? Not again unless I’m prepared to lose more than I can afford.

Want to hear more about how I got started and the secret techniques I used to try to minimize losses? Join the The Daily Dollar community and get more insider tips. I’ll share everything I’ve learned so far — and I promise, no more gimmicks.