Any experiences with Xapo Bank? \ stacker news ~bitcoin

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2344 sats \ 22 comments \ @pillar 19 Sep 2023 bitcoin

I'm curious about Xapo Bank: https://www.xapobank.com.

Has anyone done business with them? Would you mind sharing your experience?

379 sats \ 3 replies \ @DarthCoin 19 Sep 2023

I use their services in 2015-2016. Then they start being a shit service and I closed my account. They are just a bank and as any bank will fuck you all the time.

3 sats \ 2 replies \ @pillar OP 19 Sep 2023

Thanks Darth. Would you mind sharing a bit more on how they disappointed you?

739 sats \ 1 reply \ @DarthCoin 19 Sep 2023

OK. So I started using their wallet app (improper saying wallet, is just an account) in 2015. Was all ok back then with the lack of wallet apps. I use it more for receiving tips and small amounts etc, just to not use my other wallets. Then move the sats in a larger quantity to one of my personal wallets, you know, better UTXO management, stuff like that.

Then they offered me a VISA card linked to that wallet. I said, OK, let's try it. Back then very few merchants knew about BTC so was another experiment for me.

Was quite OK that card. I use it only emergencies cases. The exchanges happen in real time. I mean you do not have ANY fiat in that card. In the moment of the payment, is making the exchange from your wallet into fiat and pay the merchant. Was quite impressive achievement with that.

But then they start asking more and more questions, KYC, raising fees etc. So I said, fuck it, this is not Bitcoin and I close it.

From then I never used anymore Xapo. I know they've changed a lot between 2016 until today, even passing through shitcoining. Another bleah...

Sincerely... I do not trust them anymore. Is just a fucking bank that wants your sats and give you shitcoin fiat. That's all.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nemo 19 Sep 2023

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337 sats \ 3 replies \ @BitcoinMaxiNewsdotCom 19 Sep 2023

Best bank you can have in my experience. Of course they are not the same as self custody, what do people expect? They have to comply with regulations...

Even so, took me 5 minutes to set up account. Great customer service. Worldwide card with no foreign exchange fee on spending and 1.1% sats back...

Far better than any other crypto platform that offers card for spending, and the founder is Bitcoiner. Yes, they offer stable coins, cause it's a lifesaver in many countries...

People need to get real and stop thinking a bank can live up to their Maxi religion. Seriously. Xapo has been nothing but great for me, and you don't need to hold everything you own in there...

3 sats \ 0 replies \ @btcthinker 19 Sep 2023

Was Lehman Brothers once one of the best banks in the world? Mt. Gox Exchange was once the largest Bitcoin exchange in the world. You can use banks, but you can't trust banks. Trusting banks is a false start.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @pillar OP 19 Sep 2023

Thanks for sharing your experience. If you don't mind me asking, have you been working with them for a long time?

I'm also curious as for the tax implications of spending BTC with their credit card. It surely means you are generating capital gains when your BTC gets converted to whatever fiat currency... and then I'm wondering how the cashback in sats would work as well tax wise.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinMaxiNewsdotCom 20 Sep 2023

I cannot help you with tax stuff, but the bank will report to whatever country you live in...

Lehman brothers was hardly founded by a Bitcoin enthusiast. Xapo is as good as a bank gets within the existing framework in my experience...

$150 a year is cheap for what you get in return. ..

256 sats \ 0 replies \ @fm 19 Sep 2023

Maintaining the account Includes a package of services consisting of: USD bank account, international premium debit card and an ultra secure Vault that supports USD. Services beyond these may be charged separately. 150 USD a year

Seams a bit expensive IMO

22 sats \ 7 replies \ @phygit 19 Sep 2023

I used them in 2014-2016. Was my first crypto-card. They offered a quite cool (actually cold) secured vault in Swiss. Very serious company, solid products, good vibes back then. I used to be happy with them. But then they more or less drifted away. Not sure exactly what happened, but the card was discontinued and I left (went later on to Wirex, one of the shittiest experience in my cryptolife, but that's another story...). Anyway, I saw that Xapo is trying to make a big comeback and I'm quite tempted to try TBH. Not sure the same founder/CEO (Casares) is still in charge though.

122 sats \ 6 replies \ @cryptoshalix 20 Sep 2023

What happened to you at Wirex to have that horrible experience?

I know they own your money, they asked me for full KYC when creating the account, and they trade in shitcoins, but they have one of the best savings percentages (+6% in BTC) and a functional card in the world.

It is not to leave all your capital, but a part and let it grow, in addition to being able to use your card when necessary (online purchases where Bitrefill or similar do not reach).

I've used other services in the past (banks, neobanks, and exchanges), and so far Wirex is one of the best.

Regarding Xapo. I'm not going to pay anything to use any bank. And even less so when I intend to save only part of my capital and, above all, to use their card.

For those who are interested in the banks, neobanks and exchanges that I have used, here are some:

BNext: Spanish neobank. It didn't give many options and his card always failed.
ING bank: they blocked my access to my account for 2 weeks. Without reasons. As soon as they gave me access, I switched to another bank.
Openbank: My current bank. The best in terms of traditional. 0 problems.
Binance: I used your card for an entire year, every day. 0 problems
Wirex: current, 0 problems to date with card or account.

TBH, I'm really considering using Bitwage (which @Darthcoin mentions so much), but since I would probably continue using my current bank, I don't feel like creating another account right now.

10 sats \ 2 replies \ @phygit 20 Sep 2023

I also tried many neobanks and cryptobanks. Stayed away from traditional bank for about 10 years now.

I know it will not please people to say this here, but the best crypto bank/card I know is in the Ethereum world. It's called Monolith and it's nothing short of amazing: a totally non custodial wallet linked to a prepaid Visa. You upload ETH or any tokens to your card when you need to use it, while keeping full custody of your money. Simple as pie, decent fees, works like charm.

I've been wondering for long why there isn't anything similar in the Bitcoin world. I saw a few things in the past, but I don't think they survived. Maybe I'm wrong but if you know a non custodial Bitcoin wallet linked to a bank card, I'm definitely interested.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryptoshalix 20 Sep 2023

Ugh... I just looked at the page, and I didn't like the initial logo AT ALL, with that eye. Too "Illuminati" and conspiratorial. And on top of that in ETH, with its own TKN token and you would have to read the T&C... no way.

Pay with moon (https://paywithmoon.com) is the card that I liked the most, and it supports Bitcoin, but it has certain restrictions with its use, merchants, etc. It's a shame, because it looks fabulous.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @phygit 20 Sep 2023

Not crazy about the eye either but like the monolith. Probably a generational thing (Space Odyssey and stuff).

You don't need to use TKN token. Never had a single one and been using their card for years...

0 sats \ 2 replies \ @phygit 20 Sep 2023

My story with Wirex is a very long story, and a bit lazy to go through it extensively. But, in short:

I started using Wirex before it even was called Wirex. Used it for years and at one point, it was my main account...

I got all the possible problems with them: ..repeated bugs: including incredible bugs for a bank (discrepancies in displayed amounts) (I was among the ones debugging their apps, found huge bugs multiple times but never got any reward for it BTW) .. blocked account for no reason .. insanely bad admin: took me several month to change my postal address after moving...

About 2 years after officially closing my account, I still receive emails asking me to upgrade my account. What a joke.

All in all, despite being an early adopter and even spending quite a lot of energy promoting Wirex all over the Web, my experience with them was simply AWFUL.

Frankly, I was a bit sad about it, as I initially thought Wirex was the kind of company that could make a difference. Maybe they improved, and I'm glad you're happy with it. But I have so many bad memories associated with it (including dozens of messages to their customer support and hours of pain) that I would stay out of it forever.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @cryptoshalix 20 Sep 2023

Not the first time I hear something similar. Thanks for sharing.

I'm looking for a card free of KYC that I can use on the fiat world with my Bitcoin, for online expenses. No luck.

With that, I can finally remove any bank, exchange and so.

Meanwhile, I'll be changing from a platform to another.

329 sats \ 0 replies \ @ryu 17 Feb

Late reply, but Spendit is probably what you're looking for.

Don't know about Google Pay support, but Apple Pay is confirmed to work with their prepaid cards.

22 sats \ 0 replies \ @fm 19 Sep 2023

Also: Cash withdrawal (ATM) in and outside Gibraltar up to 100 USD per month 0 USD, ATM operator fees may apply Cash withdrawal (ATM) in and outside Gibraltar above 100 USD per month 2% of the withdrawal amount, ATM operator feesmay apply

A 2% everytime you want to withdraw seam a lot. Works if you just dont withdraw

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @02bcd3eeb0 19 Sep 2023

They are a bank that provides a debit card and let's you easily move between bitcoin and usd, for non-US residents/citizens. People in here seem to have weird expectations of them - they are simply a bank and are better than any other bank.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @nicosey 19 Sep 2023

Its good service. Ultimately its going to get harder and harder to use fiat rails for BTC. So sign up to Xapo while you can.

0 sats \ 1 reply \ @BlokchainB 19 Sep 2023

USA citizens can sign up?

50 sats \ 0 replies \ @BitcoinMaxiNewsdotCom 20 Sep 2023