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Operating out of Switzerland was decisive for Xapo’s growth, says Olga Feldmeier. The “cryptoqueen” worked for the company, which is one of the world’s biggest bitcoin custodians, before founding her own startup in Crypto Valley.

American company Xapo specializes in secure storage vaults for digital currency bitcoin. It is now a key global player - and deciding to operate its business out of Switzerland's Crypto Valley was one of the most important strategic decisions it made, said Olga Feldmeier, former Xapo Commercial Managing Partner, in an interview with “Forbes”.

In 2017, Xapo received a special permission to operate out of Switzerland as a financial intermediary supervised by a Self Regulating Organization (SRO). This would not have been possible in most other countries, according to Feldmeier. Now, Switzerland is the second-largest country in terms of Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs).

Since leaving Xapo, Feldmeier has founded her own startup in Crypto Valley. Smart Valor AG is a decentralized marketplace for tokenized alternative investments. In the “Forbes” interview, the young entrepreneur highlighted the importance of finding the right location for a business, with regulation and availability of banking among the pressing issues for blockchain companies today.

Feldmeier grew up in Ukraine before securing a scholarship to study in Munich. She went on to work at the Boston Consulting Group and UBS. “Forbes” described her as the “cryptoqueen” of Crypto Valley.