It's not really Xapo's decision because it is the actual debit card issuer that is deciding to close their service to people outside of the european union. I would assume that this is because of increasing government pressure and regulation worldwide.
But yeah, xapo is going to be pretty badly hit on this one. One of their main products that they offer is the xapo debit card.
Now that is gone, along with no fee transactions. I really can't see xapo going anywhere. They've got to be able to come up with something creative to gain some market share.
Exactly. This was likely out of their hands. What they should be doing now instead is to find a replacement issuer. I know this won't be easy, given tightening AML/KYC requirements and the increasing hostility of EU financial systems towards non-EU users. A lot of people used Xapo chiefly because of their fee-free transactions. The debit card made it worthwhile to stay. They might have foreseen this happening and prepared for it. They might want to look at partnering some of the recent card-focused ICOs. Monaco comes to mind.
But I suppose this is the price of mainstream adoption, Bitcoin users will eventually be subject to the same fiduciary requirements and restrictions if they want to spend it as fiat.
