Gibraltar-based crypto-friendly Xapo Bank has enabled British pound (GBP) and USDC stablecoin payments for its users after the banking crisis rocked the U.S. cryptocurrency industry.
“Starting today, we’ve also added support for the pound sterling through the Faster Payments network, meaning members will be able to pay directly to their UK wallet or bank,” the retail-focused bank’s chief executive Seamus Rocca told CoinDesk. said in a statement. Tuesday. Xapo also activated USDC payments this week, enabling its users to send and receive the stablecoin directly to their Xapo bank account without any fees, Rocca said.
Binance, the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume, said on Monday it would suspend deposits and withdrawals of British pounds for all users in May.
Companies are scrambling to find alternatives after the top three U.S. cryptocurrency go-to banks collapsed last week. Many of them are looking for a crypto-friendly offshore bank like Xapo. “Xapo Bank made a commercial decision in 2019 to sell our institutional custody business and focus on retail, so we’re not a B2B bank like Silvergate or Signature,” Rocca said.
Xapo, a licensed private bank and cryptocurrency custodian, has integrated Bitcoin’s Lightning Network. The Faster Payments system is operated by Pay.UK, which, according to its website, is “the recognized operator and standards body for retail interbank payment systems in the UK”.
b>Correction (14 March 2023 16:55 UTC): CoinDesk received a statement from Xapo CEO on Tuesday.
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