Xapo shifting services from Hong Kong to Switzerland

Bitcoin services provider Xapo is winding down activities at its Hong Kong base and transferring key operations to Switzerland. Xapo president Ted Rogers said the move has been driven by Switzerland’s friendlier regulatory environment. “It was once thought that Hong Kong was the holy grail of crypto regulations,” Rogers told swissinfo.ch at the World Web Forum in Zurich. “But it has become more opaque.” “It’s a reality of this industry that you have to be agile and react to regulatory changes all the time. Swiss regulators are smart, interested and sophisticated in dealing with the financial markets.” The Xapo operational transfer will involve non-United States bitcoin wallet customer services being moved from Hong Kong to Switzerland, with traditional cash accounts being handled from London. Xapo is incorporated in Hong Kong, but Rogers said that this status is now an open question. He would not elaborate on how many extra jobs the strategy change may bring for Switzerland.