Uphold Vault: XRP Community to Get Exclusive Early Access

In a recent interview on the “Digital Perspectives” YouTube channel, Uphold CEO Simon McLoughlin touched on various topics of interest to the XRP community, especially one of his company’s upcoming products (“Vault”).

Uphold is a financial services platform that allows users to convert, store, and transact in various assets, including cryptocurrencies, fiat currencies, and precious metals. Founded in 2013, the platform aims to make financial services more accessible and affordable. Uphold provides a range of services, such as buying and selling cryptocurrencies, sending money internationally, and even trading traditional financial instruments.

SEC v. Ripple Case

McLoughlin expressed that the recent ruling in the SEC vs. Ripple case is a significant win for the crypto industry. He feels both proud and vindicated for Uphold’s continued support of XRP over the past two years, crediting their law firm, Paul Hastings, for encouraging this stance.

Impact of Judge Torres’ Ruling on Uphold

McLoughlin believes the ruling will have two main positive impacts on Uphold:

1. It will lift the cloud of uncertainty hanging over the altcoin sector, where Uphold specializes.
2. It will accelerate clear lawmaking and rule-making in the United States, helping to bridge the gap between what regulators and courts are saying.

Uphold Vault

McLoughlin provided more details about Uphold Vault, describing it as their biggest product launch for H2 2023. The Vault is a self-custodial solution that allows users to hold their own keys while keeping their assets adjacent to the Uphold platform. This means users can easily move their assets back to the trading platform whenever they want.

One of the unique features of Uphold Vault is that it’s a multi-chain wallet. It will support multiple cryptocurrencies right out of the gate, including XRP, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Stellar, and XDC. This is significant because, typically, you would need a dedicated self-custodial wallet for each chain, but Uphold Vault allows you to manage assets from different chains in one self-custodial wallet.

Another interesting feature is the key recovery system. Users hold two of the keys, and Uphold holds one. This setup allows for easy key recovery in case a user loses one of their keys. McLoughlin believes this feature makes self-custody easy for the average person who may not be a technophile.

Interestingly, the Uphold CEO did mention that XRP token holders would get early access to Uphold Vault. This is part of Uphold’s commitment to the XRP community, and it aligns with their support for XRP throughout the SEC v. Ripple case. The early access for XRP token holders is a way to reward the community for their loyalty and to encourage them to try out the new self-custodial solution.

New Features and Events

Uphold is also supporting all XRP ledger airdrops and launching a “Majors and Generals” promotional campaign that allows XRP holders to earn NFTs. They are committed to adding other relevant tokens, especially those with finance and enterprise use cases.

Institutional and Enterprise Adoption

McLoughlin is optimistic about the potential for institutional and enterprise adoption, particularly in regions like the UK, Europe, Dubai, and Singapore, where crypto regulation is more transparent.

Future Plans

Uphold plans to reintroduce a debit card offering XRP rewards in the United States and is also looking at yield products and adding more functionality to the wallet.