ROI vs APR: The Difference That Changes Your Numbers

Two words. One letter different. Massive difference in meaning. When evaluating any yield product — especially in DeFi — knowing the difference between APR and ROI is the single most important thing after understanding the protocol itself.

APR (Annual Percentage Rate)

The simple interest rate, not accounting for compounding. If you earn 1% per day for 365 days without compounding, your APR is 365%.

APR assumes no reinvestment of yield.

ROI (Return on Investment)

The effective return over a specific period. Turbo Loop offers fixed ROI plans: Power Loop at 3% daily for 10 days (30% total) and Ultimate Loop at 10% daily for 10 days (100% total). These are not annualized rates but fixed returns over the plan duration.

The practical difference

For a 10% APR, here are the ROIs at different compounding frequencies:

• No compounding: 10%
• Monthly: 10.47%
• Weekly: 10.51%
• Daily: 10.52%
• Continuous: 10.52%

For a 100% APR:

• No compounding: 100%
• Monthly: 161%
• Weekly: 169%
• Daily: 171%
• Continuous: 171%

The higher the rate, the bigger the APR-to-ROI gap. At high APRs, compounding makes a dramatic difference.

Turbo Loop's numbers

When you see "up to 100% ROI" on Turbo Loop, that's the fixed per-cycle ROI (10 days depending on the plan), encoded in the immutable contract — not a variable annualized rate. The math compounds exponentially. (The compounding film walks through this visually.)

Why this matters when comparing protocols

Some projects quote APR to look conservative. Others quote ROI to look attractive. Always check which one is being shown, and do your own math for the compounding frequency you actually plan to use. The security page lists the exact contract methods so you can verify what's fixed and what isn't.

Bottom line

APR is what you earn with lazy money. ROI is what you earn with active compounding. Always compound. Always know which number you're comparing.