Xapo Bank

Xapo was founded in 2013 by Wences Casares, an Argentine tech entrepreneur known as a pioneer in the cryptocurrency space. Originally established as a Bitcoin wallet and cold storage vault service, Xapo became one of the first major institutional-grade custodians for digital assets, eventually managing a significant portion of the world's circulating Bitcoin. The company's headquarters were originally located in Palo Alto, California, before moving to Switzerland and eventually settling in Gibraltar to leverage the territory's robust DLT (Distributed Ledger Technology) regulatory framework.

In 2020, Xapo transitioned from being primarily a Bitcoin custodian to a fully regulated digital bank, rebranding as Xapo Bank. During this shift, the company sold its institutional custody business to Coinbase to focus on its retail banking operations. Today, Xapo Bank combines traditional private banking features with a Bitcoin-native core, allowing users to hold both USD and Bitcoin in a single regulated environment. The platform is operated by Xapo Bank Limited, which is licensed and regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission.