Xapo

Welcome to our Xapo news page. Here you'll find some of our featured Xapo Bitcoin content pieces as well as all our latest XAPO Wallet posts.

XAPO Wallet - Safe Bitcoin Cryptocurrency Digital Money Storage?

Bitcoins are an online, decentralized currency that doesn’t belong to any government and can be used anonymously by anyone. Hold up! If we can use Bitcoins anonymously, where do we keep them? How is it possible to use a currency system anonymously without it leading back to a person? The answer is actually quite ingenious.

The Bitcoin “wallet” is your way of keeping Bitcoins in one spot, safe and secure. There are two different types of Bitcoin wallets and they are the software wallet and the web wallet. The main difference between the two is that a software wallet has to be installed onto your computer or mobile device, while a web wallet is hosted by a third party provider.

It’s hard to say which wallet is more secure because both have different factors which have to be taken into account when their security is in question.

Essentially the security of a software wallet is entirely put onto how secure your computer or mobile device is, while the security of the web wallet relies completely on the security of the third party host who is in control of the wallet. Either way, they both offer you the ability to send, receive and store Bitcoins.

However, spending these Bitcoins can be somewhat cumbersome as not all retailers accept them and you can’t exactly send a specific amount of Bitcoins to someone like Wal-Mart for your purchase.

If you need something at a brick and mortal location, you would have to go through an exchange firm, convert BTC to USD then deposit everything into your bank account. After a few days of processing, you can go back to your local store and buy whatever you need.

This is all dandy and what not but we don’t like waiting two to three days to get our snack on, besides we have no desire to pay all those transaction fees that each of these establishments through which our currency will pass through will inevitably charge us.

The end result is this amazing form of currency, the Bitcoins, and our inability to use them! Luckily, XAPO is here to save the day.

What Is XAPO Wallet?

Xapo.com is a web wallet with mobile support. Not only that but they also offer a Debit Card which is linked to your account and can be used anywhere.

Because of their application integration into the online account services, you are able to use your phone to see every transaction and exactly how much money you have in your account. You are in complete control of your funds no matter where you are. The money follows you as you go from one place to another.

XAPO Wallet Debit Card

Need your money right now? No problem! Xapo offers a completely secure Debit Card which is linked to your account and can be used at your convenience. Many companies offer Debit Cards, but none of them are like the Xapo Debit Card.

It’s accepted everywhere Visa is accepted and you can see your transactions instantly on your mobile application. Furthermore, you can use your Xapo Debit Card at any ATM worldwide to withdraw cash if you need it.

There are a few limitations when it comes to using the Xapo Debit Card. First of all, you can complete only 2 ATM transactions per day with a limit of $200 USD per transaction and $400 USD per day and $1000 USD lifetime. Point of sales transactions are limited to $2,500 USD per single transaction with a $2,500 daily limit and a $2,500 lifetime limit.

We understand that these limitations might seem somewhat strict but we have good news for you. These are what Xapo marks as Standard Limits. Once you get your Xapo Debit Card, you can request Upgraded Limits.

All you have to do to get your Debit Card limits to the upgraded status is fill out a form that Xapo provides and upload a high resolution image of acceptable ID and proof of residence with the same address as you want your Xapo card to be linked to.

Once those requirements are met, the following limitations are applied to your Xapo Debit Card - two daily ATM withdrawals are allowed with $1,000 USD limit per withdrawal and $2,000 daily limit – no lifetime limit - point of sales transactions are limited to $10,000 USD per purchase and $20,000 USD per day limit without a lifetime limit.

XAPO Wallet Security

Xapo offers one of the most secure vault systems. Customers’ Bitcoins are securely located on offline servers which are never connected to the internet. The servers themselves are located behind concrete walls with steel blast doors and Faraday cages implemented to block out any radio frequency access.

Each server facility is located at highly secured locations within the Swiss Alps which offers additional protection against physical theft. Needless to say, we think our Bitcoins will be 100% protected under Xapo.

XAPO Wallet Conclusion

Bitcoins offer freedom, security and anonymity but using them for daily purchases can be a nightmare. However, with the help of Xapo this nightmare can become the most pleasant dream - all you have to do is sign up for an account today and get your Xapo Debit Card.

Xapo Bitcoin Wallet to Receive a BitLicense from the State of New York

Xapo Just Received a BitLicense from the State of New York

Bitcoin wallet provider Xapo has received a BitLicense from the state of New York. The company becomes just the 8th firm to receive a license or charter from the New York DFS.

A press release announcing the news appeared online on June 14, 2018.

Xapo joins Coinbase, XRP II, bitFlyer, Circle, and Genesis Global Trading as some of the few companies that have received a BitLicense in New York.

The news comes on the same day the NYDFS approved itBit’s plan to list four new tokens on its exchange.

Xapo’s BitLicense was announced by Financial Services Superintendent Maria T. Vullo.

Vullo explained  in a statement:

“Today’s actions represent New York’s continued commitment to creating a thriving, global fintech marketplace,”

“Through strong and thoughtful regulatory oversight by DFS, consumers and the virtual currency market alike will continue to benefit.”

The statement explained that the New York DFS had completed a comprehensive review of Xapo’s application. They had analyzed the company’s anti-money laundering, anti-fraud, capitalization, consumer protection, and cybersecurity policies. As a new licensee, Xapo will be subject to ongoing supervision by DFS.

Xapo was described as “a digital financial services company offering bitcoin products and services” in the DFS statement. Xapo is best-known as a bitcoin wallet and vault. The company describes itself as “the world’s most secure bitcoin wallet.”

Xapo President Ted Rogers responded to the successful BitLicense application, saying, “We are very pleased with the approval of Xapo's BitLicense application. It is the end result of much hard work, not just by Xapo personnel but by the DFS and its staff.”

itBit Has Also Received Approval to List Four New Cryptocurrencies

The New York DFS announced itBit’s successful application to list new cryptocurrencies in the same press release.

The New York DFS had previously issued a virtual currency charter to itBit in May 2015. Today, DFS authorized itBit’s parent company, Paxos, to expand its offerings to include four new coins – Litecoin, Ether, Stellar Lumens, and Bitcoin Cash.

Chad Cascarilla, CEO of itBit in the press release prepared by the New York DFS said:

“This is an important milestone for itBit as we create a broader platform for crypto asset investors. We are committed to the growth and evolution of this ecosystem and DFS approval allows us to offer more trading and custody services across a wider range of crypto assets,”

“Regulatory oversight and security have always been at the forefront of building our platform. We are thrilled to be able to offer these new services to our customers.”

In total, the New York Department of Financial Services has now approved eight firms for virtual currency charters or licenses. It’s unclear how many applications the DFS has denied. In addition to Xapo, the DFS has granted licenses to Genesis, bitFlyer USA, Coinbase, XRP II, and Circle Internet Financial, while charters have been granted to Gemini Trust Company and Paxos (formerly known as itBit Trust Company).

Xapo Bitcoin Wallet & Crypto Vault Activates SegWit For Scaling Purposes

Xapo is a widely-utilized cryptocurrency wallet and value and its president recently revealed that the platform has adopted what is called “Segregated Witness (SegWit). SegWit is a scaling solution developed by Bitcoin Core’s development team.

The adoption of SegWit is noteworthy for several reasons, especially when it comes to Xapo. According to Tom Metcalf, a Bloomberg correspondent, Xapo has a cold wallet stored in underground bunkers in Switzerland and there is purportedly over $10 billion worth of Bitcoin. This is a staggering amount and it is much more than the 5,670 banks in the US have. Xapo’s influence over the market is much wider too – it currently deposits more than 98 percent of banks in the United States.

Various investment companies store in Xapo’s cold wallet, including CoinShares, an investment company. CoinShares allegedly has more than $500 million worth of bitcoin stored in Xapo’s cold wallet and the platform’s CEO, Ryan Randloff recently stated that those who store in Xapo’s vaults are large-scale investors who do not hold or manage their own private keys. In Randloff’s own words, “everyone who isn’t keeping keys themselves is keeping them with Xapo.” Such a statement says a great deal about Xapo’s trustworthiness.

The founder of CoinShare is not the only one to express such sentiments. Recently, Reid Hoffman, the billionaire investor and LinkedIn co-founder stated that Xapo is one of the very few and first successful companies committed to commercialized custodial and security functions in the cryptocurrency industry.

As he stated, “They’re the first folks who recognized custodial and security functions would be key. He made the pitch in the morning and in the afternoon I called him with an offer.” In 2014, Hoffman invested more than $20 million in Xapo.

It is clear that CoinBase and Blockchain have developed a significant influence over the consumer market and individual investors. However, Xapo is growing to be a key player as well, especially with its showing dominance over the institutional market within the cryptocurrency industry and its direct deals with institutional investors and retail traders.

The downside of Xapo is that transfers take 24 hours, however it does not seem that the slow transfer time has stopped large-scale investors. Although investors do not move small amounts of bitcoin, they still frequently transfer much larger sums in and out of the vaults, and at a fee as well.

To resolve this issue, Xapo is planning on integrated SegWit, which will enable the processing of large sums of bitcoin on the bitcoin blockchain network. The transactions will be SegWit enabled, which means that the costs will be drastically decreased and will only burden the main blockchain network.

When it comes to information processing at Ethereum and other smart contract-based blockchain networks, they have yet to achieve the scalability levels of Bitcoin. As a result, they are working on innovative solutions that include sharding and plasma to divide the blockchain networks into chunks. This is expected to allow for more efficient information processing.

Additionally, in terms of bitcoin’s blockchain network, it is currently experimenting with Lightning Network to determine its viability as the second-layer blockchain solution for the processing of smaller transactions, but in a larger capacity. And it is considering SegWit as its first or base layer for scaling. The adoption of SegWit will enable the platform to develop into a technology that will change bitcoin’s current status as a store of value to a scalable currency. There is no doubt that the use of SegWit by Xapo achieves such a goal as well.

Xapo Wallet Says Time To Convert BTC To BCH (Bitcoin To Bitcoin Cash)

You have probably been wondering what to do using all the BCH (Bitcoin Cash) that were created following the previous Bitcoin fork of August 1st.

Before we go into how you can exchange your Bitcoin Cash into Bitcoins, let’s take a step back. This fork marked the arrival of a brand new digital asset referred to as "Bitcoin Cash". Bitcoin Cash represents a divergence in opinion of the future of Bitcoin, which was largely determined by the miners and large-scale investors who determine the price and direction of the currency.

Back to what you could do using the BCH created on your BCH Wallet. Some services such as Xapo have made it simple and convenient for their customers to convert BCH into BTC. As a consequence, now you can convert the entire balance of your BCH Wallet for a BTC Wallet with no more than 1 transaction and one click away. Bear in mind that the corporation won't encourage BCH following December 14th and you'll only have the ability to convert the whole balance of your BCH into BTC before that date.

If you'd like to maintain your BCH you won't Be able to do this using some online services. However, you can draw the entire balance of BCH and send it to some legitimate outside BCH account prior to December 14th.

Whether you convert right now and maintain your BCH as BTC or you decide you draw them at a later date, December 14th is the deadline. Users are encouraged to act quickly lest they miss out on the opportunity to transfer their BCH into BTC. The good news is that there is no shortage of online platforms that customers take can advantage of, with many offering low fees as an incentive for their users.

Xapo CEO, Crypto OG Wences Casares Forecasted Bitcoin's Store of Value Path Long Ago

The CEO of a Hong-Kong based bitcoin wallet and vault, Xapo, Wences Casares, has been an advocate for Bitcoin ever since it came into existence. While he did hold a positive perspective on both the technology and the currency’s efficiency, he did mention possible problems that may arise. In particular, he focused on that of high inflation, which was a factor that had influenced his life in the past.

2018 is clearly a tough year for the crypto market, as bear trends have easily overtaken the few moments of bull runs we’ve had. Many are still doubtful of the market due to the fact that they hold an incomplete view, that is, believing that the digital asset is not practical for real-life situations.

With the growing mixed opinions found on every social media platform possible, it appears that Casares has previously predicted the likes of Bitcoin and the difficulties it will face in terms of acceptance. Most of his views were shared in a book called the Digital Gold, which emphasized on a conversation that Casares had with Reid Hoffman, a venture capitalist and internet entrepreneur.

The author of the book, Nathaniel Popper reveals Casares’ viewpoint, which today sounds reasonable.

The extract from the book noted that:

“Wences agreed with Hoffman that Bitcoin was unlikely to catch on as a payment method anytime soon. But for now, Wences believed that Bitcoin would first gain popularity as a globally available asset similar to gold.”

It can’t get any more accurate than this, as this statement reflects what happened near the end of 2017, as consumers were made aware of the existence of Bitcoin, which resulted from several entering the relatively new market, to watching Bitcoin hit its all-time-high of USD$20,000.

A further point was made, which is both insightful and essential to understand infancy stages of any market.

The piece read,

“Like gold, which was also not used in everyday transactions, Bitcoin’s value was as digital asset where people could store wealth.”

In fact, Casares was not only for Bitcoin because of the different opportunities it could bring in the long run, but he perceived it to being similar to gold, which for many years was a way for people to build upon their money’s store of value.

Why Are So Many People Still Against Cryptocurrencies?

Over the course of 2018, many have been against cryptocurrencies because of several factors including high transaction fees, the lack of real-life use, but most importantly, volatility. While it is true that Bitcoin uses far more electricity than an individual would over a period of one month, many altcoins have been created to address this problem of scalability.

The same applies to its real-life application, as more and more companies are trying to find ways to embed the blockchain technology into their businesses to maximize on efficiency, while cutting down on costs. Furthermore, several ATMs and existing businesses do accept the digital asset as a mean of payment.

So, what still remains a problem? Consumers and some well-established investors are quick to point fingers at the notion of volatility. However, many have failed to realize the fact that the crypto market is still in its early stages, compared to the traditional stock market. For instance, the former’s market capitalization sits in billions of dollar ranges, while the latter has a value belonging in the trillions.

Next, due to the fact that it is still new, increasing user adoption and attracting more investors will take time. Lastly, the value of cryptocurrencies, whether it be Bitcoin or altcoins, depends on fresh invested money, how else will it grow given that the market cap remains stagnated?

Does it make sense to only focus on volatility, given the fact that there are external influences on the market? This is why many crypto experts and fanatics are proposing for hedge funds and ETFs, as it will bring more investors into the market along with their investments to get the market cap to moon along with the currency’s value.

As tempting as it might be to give up on the crypto market, current investors and consumers altogether need to give it time, as like Casares mentioned in the past, it may one day become the next gold, despite all the hurdles it is currently dealing with.