Uphold, the global web3 financial platform, announces bitcoin as the next asset that can be deposited into Vault – an assisted self-custody wallet that strips away the complexities in securing digital assets.
Originally, Vault supported XRP, but this addition “transitions Vault into the early stages of being a truly multi-chain assisted self custody wallet.”
Vault opens up the security of self custody “to mainstream holders of bitcoin while retaining the convenience of the Uphold centralized trading venue that is one click away.”
And, with its assisted self custody, Vault allows users “to generate a new key should one be lost or compromised. This reduces the risk of irrecoverable fund loss, which has been a major impediment to mainstream adoption of self custody.”
Simon McLoughlin, CEO of Uphold said:
“Many of us are familiar with the challenges users face in managing their bitcoin keys and wallets. As bitcoin ownership expands, the need for enhanced security combined with trading convenience becomes ever-more apparent. Vault introduces a self-custody solution that’s straightforward to use, completely independent of the Uphold app availability and offers a new key generation service to prevent loss of assets.”
The launch of bitcoin ETFs, the news of the halving and the recent increasing value of bitcoin have “led many new users to join the Bitcoin community and many more to increase their holdings.”
All of these assets should enjoy the ultimate security of self custody. But traditionally, self-custodying assets can “be challenging – especially for newer crypto users – and if users lose the keys to the self-custody wallet, they lose all of their assets. Vault solves these challenges.”
Vault currently supports XRP and BTC and will “offer additional XRPL based assets, as well as more L1 chains such as XLM and XDC throughout 2024.”
As a web3 financial platform, Uphold claims that it “serves millions of customers in more than 140 countries.”
It provides businesses and consumers with easy access to digital assets and services.
Uphold’s unique interface gives users “access to and between digital assets and national currencies and precious metals.”
Uphold smart routes orders “across 30 trading venues delivering optimal execution and superior liquidity to customers.”
Uphold claims that it “never loans out customer assets and is always 100% reserved.”
The company has pioneered radical transparency and uniquely publishes its assets and liabilities every 30 seconds on a public website (https://uphold.com/en-us/transparency).
Uphold is regulated in the U.S. by FinCen and State regulators; and is “registered in the UK and Canada with the FCA and FINTRAC respectively and in Europe with the Financial Crime Investigation Service under the Ministry of the Interior of the Republic of Lithuania.”