Xapo Bank, a fully licensed bank that combines traditional banking with access to Bitcoin, stablecoins, and altcoins, recently announced it is launching three more cryptocurrencies that members can buy, sell, and hold on the Xapo Bank app — Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA), and Polygon (MATIC). The bank claims it is the first retail bank to offer these unique digital assets to members from the security of a regulated banking environment. Members will pay a 1% fee on ETH, ADA, and MATIC, with no hidden fees.
Xapo Bank Limited is regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission as a ‘credit institution,’ and Xapo VASP Limited is regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission under the Financial Services Act 2019 as a DLT institution.
The Xapo Bank app consolidates banking, eliminating the need to juggle multiple platforms and complex fee structures. Members across the globe can manage access to USD, GBP, Euros, USDC, Tether, U.S. stocks and cryptocurrencies.
“Although Xapo is best known for providing Bitcoin custody services, we can’t ignore member demand, and therefore we are giving access to other prominent cryptocurrencies,” Xapo Bank CEO Seamus Rocca said. “Xapo’s offering is truly unique. Unlike traditional banks, we are very comfortable dealing in the crypto space given our 10-year history. Unlike exchanges, you don’t have to worry about security or whether your bank will block funds proceeding from your crypto transactions. We offer you highly secure crypto custody, with the guarantees and transactability of a regulated bank.”
As a licensed bank and virtual asset service provider, Xapo Bank said it operates in a strictly controlled environment that is monitored by regulators. It has evaluated each cryptocurrency on offer, considering factors like crypto capitalization, age, hashing algorithm, historical performance, and more. A fully licensed and regulated bank, Xapo Bank is a member of the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme (GDGS), meaning that Xapo Bank guarantees its members’ USD deposits up to the US dollar equivalent of *$100,000 USD. The bank does not engage in the staking of crypto deposits.
It also extends its institutional-grade multi-party computation (MPC) security measures across each of its cryptocurrency offerings. Rather than contending with the risks of storing crypto in exchanges that centralize funds, or using hardware wallets that limit accessibility and could be lost, stolen, or damaged, MPC delivers top-tier security. It does so by sharding the keys of cryptocurrencies into distinct key shares, which are then securely stored in undisclosed locations across the globe. This presents a challenge to nefarious actors who would require access to each distinct key share simultaneously to compromise the assets.