For the past year, Xapo has focused on building its infrastructure to offer the most secure bitcoin storage service available. Deemed the Fort Knox of bitcoin, we’ve set a new standard in bitcoin security and treasury management to become a global and trusted provider and the leading custodian of institutionally held bitcoin in the world.

To better support and accelerate this focus we are moving our headquarters to the global financial center of Zug, Switzerland. Our primary deep cold storage vault is also located in Switzerland, and at the request of our expanding global customer base, now is the time to bring our center of operations closer to the heart of our security infrastructure. The country’s regulatory stability, international neutrality and its deep-seated tradition in global finance also factored into the decision. We will retain a small presence in Palo Alto, California to serve our U.S. customers.

While it should be unimaginable that major institutions would hold millions of dollars in cash, many corporations today still follow an analogous practice with respect to bitcoin by using insecure storage techniques like paper wallets or printed key backups.

By contrast, our fiduciaries are protected by our vault, which uses private keys that never touch the client or the internet and are buried deep within geographically dispersed, heavily guarded locations with multi-signature technology for transaction signing. We have customized security protocols to reduce the likelihood of theft through social engineering, phishing or brute force hacks, and offer full insurance in the unlikely event that these systems are compromised.

Bitcoin’s ability to scale hinges on consumer confidence and the development of services that allow people and institutions to easily and securely store and transact in bitcoin, and that’s where our product, partnerships and team will continue to be focused. We look forward to continuing to serve our growing global customer base from our new global home in Switzerland.