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About Xapo
Xapo Bank is a licensed crypto bank offering US dollar-denominated savings accounts and Bitcoin custody. Its core business combines traditional banking with digital assets: users can deposit USDT/USDC, which are automatically converted to USD and earn 3.35% annual interest paid daily in Bitcoin, backed primarily by short-term US Treasuries. For Bitcoin custody, Xapo uses MPC-CMP technology to split private keys across geographically dispersed, independently operated HSMs, with shards refreshed every 60 seconds, eliminating single points of failure.
The market pain point Xapo addresses is the trade-off between self-custody security and convenience. Self-custody risks include seed phrase loss or theft, as highlighted by the July 2026 Coldcard firmware exploit that drained over 1,750 BTC from more than 5,000 wallets. Meanwhile, exchanges often lend user funds to risky DeFi protocols or speculative trading desks. Xapo avoids both extremes: it holds customer USD in Treasuries without lending to high-risk entities, and its custody model removes seed phrase vulnerability entirely.
In the past six months (Feb-Aug 2026), Xapo launched limit and stop-loss orders for Bitcoin trading, enabling automated buy/sell at target prices. It also introduced recurring BTC purchases (DCA) with a 0.29% spread and no additional fees. The bank began requiring location permissions for transactions as an anti-fraud measure, which some users found inconvenient but reflects stricter identity verification trends. Xapo's July 2026 newsletter highlighted the Coldcard incident as validation of its custody architecture, while noting BTC ETF inflows turned positive ($172.4M in July) after outflows in May and June.
Founded in 2013 by Wences Casares, Xapo began as a Bitcoin wallet service, later evolving into an e-money wallet. In 2021, it became a regulated digital-first retail bank and virtual asset service provider (VASP) custodian under the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission. A key milestone was the successful passporting of its banking license to the UK, making it the first bank to offer interest-bearing Bitcoin and fiat accounts there, with oversight from UK regulators. This marked a shift from a simple wallet to a fully regulated bank integrating traditional and digital finance.
In the past six months, Xapo launched Bitcoin-backed loans of up to $5 million, with a maximum LTV of 40%, no rehypothecation, and support for upsizing, collateral release, and rollovers, protecting long-term HODL strategies.
Stablecoin deposits (USDC/USDT) are automatically converted 1:1 into USD savings, earning 3.35% variable annual yield paid daily in Bitcoin, and are protected by the UK deposit guarantee scheme. The BTC Savings annual yield was adjusted to 0.25%, funded from the bank's own reserves, with Bitcoin never lent out.
Future focus: leveraging its dual bank + VASP licenses to act as a compliant bridge under the CLARITY Act and MiCA, converting stablecoin payment rails into protected USD savings while delivering Bitcoin-native yield, and expanding Bitcoin-backed lending and capital efficiency tools to drive Bitcoin into mainstream finance.
Wences Casares (Co-founder): Argentine fintech entrepreneur, founder of Xapo. Previously founded Lemon Wallet (acquired by LifeLock), Banco Lemon (acquired by Banco do Brasil), and Wanako Games (acquired by Activision). Served on PayPal's board.
Seamus Rocca (CEO): Joined Xapo as Group CFO in 2017, became CEO in 2021. Previously held senior finance roles at Standard Chartered (Group Head of Liquidity and Funding Risk) and Macquarie (CFO of Equity Trading).