Xapo, a provider of secure bitcoin wallet and vault storage solutions deemed “the Fort Knox of bitcoin,” announced that it is relocating its corporate headquarters to Zurich, Switzerland. The company will retain a small presence in its previous home base in Palo Alto, California to serve U.S. customers, but its main operations will move to the new home base.
Xapo’s primary deep cold storage vault is already located in Switzerland (the precise location hasn’t been disclosed), with additional secure sites deployed around the globe.
“[A]t 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 announcement reads. “The country’s regulatory stability, international neutrality and its deep-seated tradition in global finance also factored into the decision.”
Xapo’s deep cold storage servers are housed in radio wave-blocking Faraday cages and secured behind military-grade security controls deep within reinforced underground bunkers. All vaults utilize multi-signature transaction authorization, and withdrawals must be signed by at least three of five deep cold storage sites around the world. For extra physical security, Xapo has partnered with satellite surveillance service provider Satellogic.
In August 2014, Xapo became the first Bitcoin services company to complete a Service Organization Control 2 (SOC2) Type I audit, a widely recognized auditing standard against which service providers are able to report and validate their internal security controls. Customers’ funds are covered by two separate insurance policies against cyber-theft, hacking attacks, physical break-ins and employee dishonesty.