Xapo Bank – How To Earn On Your $BTC In 2026
Here are 3 different ways to earn with Xapo Bank.
For most of Bitcoin’s life, using $BTC has meant one thing:
Buy, hold, wait.
It slow, and it’s boring – but Xapo is here to change that.
Now don’t get me wrong, HODLing works.
But your Bitcoin just sits there. You don’t want to sell it, or move it. And you definitely don’t want to hand it to some sketchy lender promising 10%, then praying they don’t blow up like Celsius.
So, what happens?
You end up with digital gold that’s great for long-term wealth, but pretty useless for everyday life.
That’s exactly the problem Xapo Bank is trying to fix.
Xapo isn’t a crypto app pretending to be a bank. It’s a regulated bank that treats Bitcoin and USD like first-class citizens – accessible side-by-side within the same app.
Which means your $BTC doesn’t just sit there anymore.
It earns, spends, and moves – it just works.
Here’s how.
1. Earn While You HODL – Bitcoin Savings
Most yield in crypto comes with a catch.
Most often, that catch is: “We’re lending your coins to someone else, and hoping they don’t default” (and we all know how that went in 2022).
Thankfully for us, Xapo takes a very different approach.
Your Bitcoin stays in regulated custody. That means no rehypothecation (re-lending out your funds to other people) and no leverage games behind the scenes.
Instead, you earn a modest, but steady yield – currently around 0.5% per year – paid directly in Bitcoin.
Now, I know that might not sound exciting compared to some of DeFi’s headline numbers…but that’s kinda the point.
This is about steady, low-risk, in-kind growth.
Your $BTC balance quietly increases over time, without you giving up control or taking on counterparty risk.
Here’s what makes Xapo’s Yield different:
- You earn yield paid in actual $BTC, not dollars.
- Your $BTC isn’t lent or rehypothecated (avoid a Celsius-style blowup).
- They give you regulated custody.
It’s not about getting rich fast – it’s about keeping your Bitcoin safe, and letting it compound slowly over time.
“But Alex, what if I’m not holding much $BTC??”
Guess what, there’s something for you too – the interest rate paid on USD savings is also paid in $BTC.
And it’s a higher interest rate.
Unlike Xapo’s crypto products, this USD balance is a bank deposit protected up to GBP 120,000 equivalent by the Gibraltar Deposit Guarantee Scheme.
2. Earn $BTC By Spending $BTC
Now, saving is great – but Bitcoin was meant to be spent too, right?
Xapo’s debit card finally makes that process feel normal.
You can pay anywhere Visa is accepted, spend directly from your $BTC or USD balance, and earn up to 1% cashback – once again, paid in real Bitcoin.
No annoying points, vouchers, or other nonsense. Actual $BTC.
And the best part is this:
Whether you’re buying lunch, booking flights, or paying for a hotel overseas, there aren’t any foreign exchange fees to worry about.
If that wasn’t enough, you also get:
- A sleek metal physical card.
- Instant virtual cards for online spending.
- One app for spending, saving, and managing everything.
Your Bitcoin isn’t trapped behind exchange withdrawals and bank transfers anymore – the entire experience feels more like spending actual money.
3. The Higher-Return Option: $BTC Credit Fund
If Xapo’s $BTC Savings is “park it safely”, then its $BTC Credit Fund is more like “let it earn properly.”
What’s the difference?
The $BTC Credit Fund is Xapo’s investment option for long-term Bitcoin holders, that provides higher potential returns, but with higher risk.
The fund targets up to 4% APY, paid in Bitcoin.
Yet again, everything is calculated and paid in $BTC, not dollars.
That means if you put in 1 $BTC, and if the fund returns 4%, you end up with 1.04 $BTC – no matter what the Bitcoin market’s doing.
Just keep in mind, although 4% is the target, it’s not a guaranteed rate.
How does the $BTC Credit Fund work?
How does the Xapo $BTC Credit Fund earn this much more yield?
In this case, your Bitcoin is actually being put to work.
Unlike the $BTC savings account, with the $BTC credit fund, your Bitcoin doesn’t just sit there.
It’s pooled with other members and lent out (for short periods, on conservative terms) to vetted financial institutions like asset managers and regulated trading firms.
They pay yield on the $BTC they borrow, and that yield is what gets passed back to you.
The catch?
This one’s not a game for small fish – the minimum investment is around USD $120,000 worth of $BTC.
It’s managed by Hilbert Capital with your $BTC held under Xapo’s regulated custody, and you can invest straight from the Xapo app.
But be careful though: There’s a 30-day lock-in, monthly cycles, and withdrawals take time – this isn’t a savings account, it’s an investment.
As for fees, those are already baked into the numbers you see.
Important Risk Note: The BTC Credit Fund is an investment product, not a bank deposit. Capital is at risk. Returns are not guaranteed, and past performance is not indicative of future results.
The Bigger Picture
Xapo Bank’s real innovation isn’t any single feature – it’s the idea that Bitcoin doesn’t have to sit unused, in cold storage.
You shouldn’t have to choose between holding $BTC for the long term, using it in daily life, or earning on it responsibly.
With Xapo, those things can finally co-exist in one place.
A regulated bank account where Bitcoin behaves like money – not just a speculative asset.
Earn while you HODL.
Spend and get paid back in sats.
Invest when you want higher returns.
That’s what “banking your Bitcoin” is supposed to look like – and for the first time, it actually does.