Xapo Bank adds Ethereum, Cardano and Polygon crypto

Today Xapo Bank announced that it has added three crypto to its platform: Ethereum (ETH), Cardano (ADA) and Polygon (MATIC).

So now users of the Xapo Bank app can also buy, sell and hold altcoins, in addition to the cryptocurrencies already present (Bitcoin and stablecoins).

Summary

• Xapo Bank and the addition of Polygon and Cardano crypto assets
• The addition of altcoins
• Banks and cryptocurrencies
• Xapo Bank: the comment on the new cryptocurrencies added, Ethereum, Cardano and Polygon

Xapo Bank and the addition of Polygon and Cardano crypto assets

Xapo Bank is a fully licensed Bitcoin-enabled bank. It effectively combines the security of the traditional banking system with access to Bitcoin, altcoins and stablecoins.

It is regulated by the Gibraltar Financial Services Commission, with the aim of facilitating broader use cases for cryptocurrencies by providing simple and secure ways to store cryptocurrencies and make fiat-to-crypto transactions 24/7.

Thanks to this it guarantees its users’ USD deposits up to the US dollar equivalent of $100,000.

It was founded back in 2013, on faith in the long-term potential of Bitcoin, and for this reason it claims to be the first crypto company in the world to have obtained a banking license.

It is in fact a fully licensed bank, which however combines the traditional banking system with Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies.

Initially it was basically just an electronic money wallet, but it has now become a real digital bank, with its own blockchain payments infrastructure that allows it to provide a seamless bridge between traditional finance and digital assets.

Furthermore, in 2019 it sold its institutional custody business to Coinbase, thus focusing on exclusively serving retail customers.

The addition of altcoins

Until now the only cryptocurrencies that could be used on the Xapo Bank app were Bitcoin and stablecoins, but now with the addition of Ethereum, Cardano and Polygon it claims to be the first retail bank in the world to offer this wide range of digital assets, with the safety of a fully regulated bank.

The Xapo Bank app was designed to simplify wealth management by consolidating it in one place, thus eliminating the need to juggle multiple platforms.

In fact, in addition to Bitcoin, stablecoins and altcoins it also supports several fiat currencies, including US dollars, euros and British pounds.

In order to offer secure custody services, the company uses multi-party computation (MPC) for all cryptocurrencies held.

In other words, thanks to MPC technology it splits private keys into multiple distinct keys that are kept separately and securely stored in secret locations around the world.

Since in order to have access to the funds you would need to have simultaneous access to each distinct key, it is almost possible for an external attacker to take possession of those funds.

Banks and cryptocurrencies

Although the relationship between traditional banks and cryptocurrencies is still difficult, and has been terrible in the past, the two worlds are slowly getting closer.

The fact is that traditional banks can no longer limit themselves to offering only custody and lending services, not even to retail customers.

In fact, it has been some time since they began to integrate services such as trading or investment, and it now seems anachronistic that these do not also include Bitcoin.

However, once Bitcoin is added, it becomes quite likely that customers will also require access to other crypto assets, in particular Ethereum and Ethereum layer-2s such as Polygon.

And so Bitcoin is leading the way, followed by other cryptocurrencies of great interest.

It seems increasingly unlikely that traditional banks will be able to stay away from the crypto sector, if only due to requests from their own customers in particular regarding the possibility of using fiat currencies deposited in accounts to make Bitcoin purchases.

Xapo Bank: the comment on the new cryptocurrencies added, Ethereum, Cardano and Polygon

Xapo Bank CEO Seamus Rocca said:

“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’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.”

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