We store and safeguard private keys for institutional and professional crypto and digital asset holders.

We are owned and run by UK regulated professionals.

Who we are

Our services are provided by a team of senior lawyers who are regulated by the Solicitor’s Regulatory Authority, operating to the FCA standards.

We use best practices when it comes to our processes, procedures and protocols, and use FIPS 140-2 level 3 encrypted devices and an insured FCA registered facility with grade 10 vaults, which are all designed and regularly independently tested and verified by FCA regulated risk specialists and regulated firms of accountants.

CLAIRE CUMMINGS

Claire heads up the systems, protocols and storage at XAP Services.

Claire is a solicitor with over 25 years of legal experience. She began advising on the regulation of crypto assets and the crypto ecosystem before most other lawyers in the UK, seeing the value of a decentralised system. Claire is on the advisory board of a leading FCA registered crypto asset exchange and on the main board of a company specialising in digital works of art and NFTs and is the founder of the Centre for Digital Assets and Democracy. She has advised on the creation of vaults and the custody of crypto assets shards since 2018. She has acted as a trusted shard holder since the early days . Claire has also acted as the compliance officer, MLRO and director of an FCA regulated fund manager and qualified under SIB to trade futures and options which gives her a unique insight.

IAN GOBIN

Ian manages the team and operations at XAP Services.

Ian is a solicitor with over 25 years of legal experience advising the world’s largest financial institutions and investment managers. His experience includes both advising on legal and fiduciary matters, with a focus on alternative investments and crypto assets. Ian has lectured on crypto asset funds, including the safe custody of crypto assets at both the Harvard Business School and Columbia University. Ian has significant experience in founding and acting as a global team leader in several leading offshore law firms which offered global fiduciary services to their clients. Ian also acted as a board member to a global fiduciary business owned by a leading offshore law firm and as was a special advisor to the Cayman Islands arm of a listed global fiduciary firm.

Safe Storage and Safeguarding of your Private Keys

What is Secure Multi Party Computation?

“Not your keys, not your wallet”

Secure multi-party computation (SMPC) is used at an institutional level to use cryptography to protect digital assets. In fact, the billion-dollar institutions which use SMPC include Coinbase, Fireblocks and ZenGo. SMPC is a cryptographic technique that allows multiple parties, each in possession of fragments of private data, to participate in computing a specific result. This specific result is computed by combining their data without disclosing the nature or content of their inputs or any other secret information related to the process.

SMPC can be used to provide security for digital assets. The process explained above is used to split (shard) the private keys of a crypto wallet among several parties so that a minimum number of people holding private key shards have to be involved in any function or transaction.

This splitting (sharding) of a single private key between multiple entities makes it very difficult for digital wallets to be compromised as there can be no loss or attack on a single party. Instead, the shards can each be held separately and securely, and in cold storage, eliminating from the very start of the process the single point of failure risk.

A wallet cannot be compromised and cannot be used unless a certain number of shards are all discovered and used together. And any attacker would need to source the shards, take the required number out of secure cold storage and attack them all simultaneously.

Our Services

Shards

We offer a solution to your private key management and storage issues.

If you are holding your digital assets with a registered custodian who uses SMPC, you will know about the processes and benefits of this system.

The creation of a minimum of three separate private key shards to jointly commute a private key largely eliminates the risk of exposure when signing transactions. This means that you can avoid the dangers of having only one single private key and can then configure your vaults with on and offline shards to gain ultimate security and control of your assets.

This system allows you to co-sign transactions without risk of private key exposure, as you hold one shard and your registered custodian holds the second shard. As there is no single key, you can configure your vaults with on and offline shards to get ultimate security and control of your digital assets.

If you or the registered custodian loses their shard, you have the third shard to come to your rescue and be used.

But who can you trust to hold this essential third shard?

This is where we can help. Our team led by specialist and regulated solicitors can store and safeguard your third shard offline, using secure cold storage solutions which are trusted by authorised entities with the aim of ensuring that at no point does a single party have control of all three shards.

Our storage and safeguarding service offers an offline storage solution. All data file digital assets are stored on FIPS 140-2 level 3 encrypted devices and held at an insured offsite FCA registered facility inside a grade 10 vault, regularly tested in accordance with the European standard EN 1143-1.

If you professionally hold crypto or digital assets or institutionally manage crypto and digital assets and private keys on behalf of your clients, you will need to and will often be required by regulators and auditors to demonstrate secure key generation, management and storage practices. As a provider of private key storage and safekeeping, we offer a solution to your private key management and storage issues.

CONTACT – Get in Touch

How to become a client?

We have a streamlined onboarding process. If you are interested or have any questions relating to our services please get in touch via the contact form below.

Upon completion of the form, our team will be in touch with you, same day.

020 3062 3344

Send us an email

Legals

XAP Services Limited is a limited liability company established under English law with company number 14701018 whose registered office is at 7a Abbey Business Park, Monks Walk, Farnham, Surrey GU9 8HT and is not regulated or authorised