Xapo Bank, a fully licensed private bank that combines traditional banking with access to Bitcoin and stablecoins, announced an integration with the single euro payments area (SEPA) network, allowing members the seamless movement of funds in Euros (EUR). First introduced in 2008 and comprising 36 countries, SEPA allows “for cashless EUR payments to anywhere in the European Union (EU), as well as a number of non-EU members, in a fast, safe and efficient way.”. The SEPA feature within Xapo Bank’s mobile application “enables members to send funds to or settle invoices with individuals and businesses holding accounts in any of the countries within the SEPA network.”

Xapo Bank, a licensed private bank that aims to combine traditional banking with access to Bitcoin and stablecoins, claims to have become the first bank in the world to integrate Tether (USDT) payment rails. Xapo Bank is regulated and based in Gibraltar. Earlier this year, Xapo announced that it was supporting USDC – the dollar based stablecoin issued by Circle.Xapo says it is beginning with a phased rollout; the payment rails will be fully available to all members by the end of the month.Building on its existing USDC rails that were launched in March, the bank is now “enabling members to leverage the world’s most widely adopted stablecoin for payments as an alternative to time consuming and costly SWIFT rails.”With a market cap of $82 billion, USDT is currently the largest dollar stablecoin by market cap ahead of competitor USDC.In general, stablecoins can provide an efficient method of processing value by leveraging distributed ledger technology. In certain economies, stablecoins can also provide a hedge against accelerated inflation.Xapo Bank reports that it has “seen a strong appetite for the efficiency of stablecoin deposits and withdrawals amongst its members, many of whom are based in emerging markets.”Since enabling USDC deposits in November, it reports that it “has received $48 Million in USDC deposits and enabled $4.5M in USDC withdrawals since the function went live in March.”It has also experienced “a 19% increase in member onboarding requests since the USDC withdrawal function went live in March.”By allowing members to deposit and withdraw using USDT with no fees charged, Xapo Bank is bringing “its 4.1% annual interest rate return on deposits to the attention of a new cohort of potential members who are looking for an alternative to SWIFT payments.”Similarly to its USDC offering, Xapo Bank is “offering a 1:1 conversion rate from USDT to USD.”All USDT deposits “received by Xapo Bank are automatically converted to USD, meaning that members can benefit from a 4.1% annual interest rate on USD deposits.”A fully licensed and regulated bank, Xapo Bank is “a member of the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme, meaning that Xapo Bank guarantees its members’ USD deposits up to the US dollar equivalent of €100,000.”Xapo Bank does “not take any risks with deposits received using USDT. All such deposits are automatically converted to USD and deposited into the member’s account.”Unlike traditional banks, Xapo Bank does “not lend and therefore does not rely on fractional reserve banking to make money as its core business model.” Instead, it has “all its customers’ funds in reserve and invested in short term liquid assets in order to pass the benefit of that interest earned, to its customers.”Seamus Rocca, CEO of Xapo Bank said:“Xapo Bank is the only regulated bank in the world which offers a USD account with stablecoin rails. This is a unique offering that combines the compliance and safety of a traditional bank, with the speed, efficiency and breadth of use of USDT

Xapo Bank, a leading Bitcoin custodian and licensed private bank, has collaborated with Circle, a global financial technology company helping money move at internet speed, to become the first licensed bank in the world to integrate USDC payment rails as an alternative to SWIFT.