Xapo Bank Offers USDC Deposits and Withdrawals

Xapo Bank has announced that its members can now deposit and withdraw their USDC stablecoins directly on its regulated banking platform, enabling them to bypass the time and inefficiency of the SWIFT payment system.

USDC deposits and withdrawals are now live on Xapo

As the US banking crisis continues to hit hard, with many crypto market participants in the region now looking for banking partners abroad, Xapo Bank, a licensed private bank offering bitcoin custody services, has joined forces with Circle to add support for USDC deposits and withdrawals. .

Through the partnership, Xapo Bank became the first regulated bank in the world to integrate USDC stablecoin payment bars as an alternative to SWIFT, allowing its customers to send and receive money around the world 24/7.

A lifeline for US cryptocurrency companies

As dark regulatory clouds over the US crypto space and harsh laws continue to make life more difficult for digital asset companies, and with currency-friendly banks under increasing scrutiny, Xapo Bank’s latest offering comes at a very crucial moment.

The bank claims to offer its customers a 1:1 USD to USD conversion rate, and users’ USD deposits are guaranteed (up to €100,000) under the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme (GDGS).

To ensure the safety of customer deposits, Xapo Bank says it does not provide lending or mortgaging services, and all users’ funds are automatically converted into US dollars held by the bank. Xapo invests in short-term liquid assets and offers its clients an interest rate of 4.1% paid daily.

Xapo says it charges a $150 membership fee and uses the money to offset its overhead costs.

As part of efforts to expand the options for payment bars, the bank recently added support for the UK’s Fastest Payment System (FPS), enabling deposits and withdrawals in GBP. Xapo also supports the Bitcoin Lightning Network, thanks to its recent partnership with Lightspark.

USDC strong position

Exposed to a collapsing Silicon Valley bank (SVB), Circle’s USDC lost parity with the dollar earlier this month, allowing cryptocurrency users like Ethereum’s Vitalik Buterin and others to buy the dip before a $3 billion credit from Coinbase bailed out the mishap.

As reported by crypto.news on March 11, the USDC issuing firm, Circle, has burned $2.34 billion worth of the stablecoin, in an effort to meet the increased redemption demands generated by the depeg event.

While the sudden collapse of projects like the now-defunct algorithmic stablecoin Do Kwon has increased regulatory oversight of so-called stablecoins, USDC’s rapid revival from the brink is a good example for other market participants, while also proving to regulators that it is not All stablecoins lack capacity.

In related news, the Twitter account of Dante Disparte, Chief Strategy Officer (CSO) and Director of Global Policy at Circle, was hijacked by hackers on March 22, announcing some bogus promotions by the company.

At the time of writing, USDC was exchanging hands for $1.01, which is up 0.3% in the last 24 hours. The stablecoin has a circulating supply of 34,719,676,174, out of a total supply of 34,721,831,403. The USDC stablecoin boasts a 24-hour trading volume of $6,260,587,099.