Draper Associates backs Xverse's Bitcoin neobank, built for nearly 2M users
What's the deal? Draper Associates has invested in Xverse, a self-custodial Bitcoin wallet that now bills itself as a Bitcoin neobank. The firm added Xverse to its portfolio by July 2026, with the aim of expanding the company's onchain financial services.
What does Xverse do? Built by Hong Kong-based Secret Key LabsDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom → and led by chief executive officer Ken Liao, Xverse runs on iOS, Android, and as a Chrome extension. It says it serves nearly 2 million users.
The neobank label comes from three features layered on the wallet: earning onchain yield through staking protocols such as Stacks, borrowing stablecoins like USDC against Bitcoin collateral, and making stablecoin payments across Bitcoin's base layer and Layer 2 networks including Stacks, StarknetDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, and Spark. Private keys stay on user devices, with no intermediaries and no account freezes.
The money trail: This is not Xverse's first raise. In August 2023, it closed a $5 million seed round led by Jump CryptoDealroom has a profile for this one. Try Dealroom →, with Franklin Templeton among the backers. As of mid-2026, its total funding is estimated at between $9 million and $12 million.
Why now? For most of Bitcoin's history, holders chose between cold storage that earned nothing or custodians that unlocked yield and loans. Xverse is betting users want both — keeping their keys while still earning, borrowing, and paying. That bet depends on Bitcoin Layer 2 infrastructure maturing enough to support lending and payments without leaving the Bitcoin orbit.
What could go wrong? Self-custody shifts responsibility to the user: lose your keys, and there is no customer service line. Onchain yield and borrowing also carry smart contract and collateral risk, and a sharp Bitcoin price drop could pressure borrowers' positions. The Layer 2 networks Xverse relies on are still developing.
The signal: Centralised exchanges already offer Bitcoin loans and yield, but they hold the keys. Xverse is competing on a different axis — control — and Draper's backing, from a firm that has advocated for Bitcoin since 2011, signals growing conviction that self-custodial banking can move from a power-user trick to a mainstream habit.
Read more: cryptobriefing.com
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