Xapo
Xapo began as a bitcoin custody service, later added a debit card, and now operates mainly as Xapo Bank in Gibraltar.[1] The about page says founder Wences Casares started the company in 2013 to hold savings in bitcoin, drawing on his experience of hyperinflation in Argentina, and that the early service was known for physical bitcoin bunkers. The homepage gives the public address as One Grand Casemates Square, Gibraltar.[2]
History
The about page gives the company's account of the years that followed. In 2014 and 2015 it says the firm raised 40 million US dollars across Series A and A1 rounds, opened an institutional business, received a Swiss registration it describes as FINMA-approved, and reached one million registered users by the end of 2015. In 2016 and 2017 it says customer funds passed one billion US dollars, it obtained an e-money licence, it joined the Swiss VQF, and it launched the Xapo debit card.[1]
For 2018 and 2019 it says the firm obtained a New York Department of Financial Services BitLicense, connected to Worldpay, CurrencyCloud, and ClearBank, sold the institutional business to Coinbase, and was a founding partner of Facebook's Libra project. It says the firm became a principal member of Mastercard and of Visa in 2020. It says Xapo Bank was established in 2021 and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. For 2023 it says accounts combined fiat rails (SEPA, FPS, and SWIFT) with USDC, USDT, and bitcoin. For 2024 it says the bank passported its banking licence into the United Kingdom and offered interest-bearing bitcoin and fiat accounts there.[1]
Bank and savings
Legal text on the site identifies Xapo Bank Limited, Gibraltar company number 111928, as a credit institution regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission under the Financial Services Act 2019, permission number 23171.[1] Crypto-asset services are attributed to Xapo VASP Limited, Gibraltar company number 118088, regulated by the same commission as a distributed ledger technology provider under permission number 26061, and not to Xapo Bank Limited. Those footnotes say crypto-asset deposits are not covered by the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme.[1] USD balances are described as covered by that scheme up to the US dollar equivalent of £120,000.[2][3]
The home and earn pages advertise savings paid in bitcoin. They show a variable 3.35% annual rate on USD savings, calculated daily and paid daily in bitcoin, and say USDT and USDC deposits can be converted to USD. USDC deposits on Ethereum are described as converting 1:1 with no extra conversion fee. The earn page states that the USD and bitcoin rates are not fixed.[2][3]
Custody
The custody page describes long-term bitcoin storage in underground bunkers, using multi-party computation so that no single party can move the coins alone. It presents the service as an alternative to traditional Cold storage and to a Hardware wallet. It also lists separate savings and spending wallets.[4] Compliance text says member bitcoin is held by Xapo VASP Limited and kept apart from the company's own assets, and that Xapo VASP Limited is regulated by the commission as a virtual asset service provider.[5]