Draper Associates, the venture firm founded by Tim Draper, has led a strategic funding round in Xverse, the self-custodial Bitcoin wallet, the company said. Trust Machines and Draper Dragon also took part. Terms were not disclosed.
Xverse is trying to put lending and yield products around a wallet without taking custody of the coins, the hard part of what the industry has started calling Bitcoin DeFi. Draper’s backing attaches a name associated with early Coinbase and Robinhood bets to that model.
Xverse says the app has passed two million downloads since launching in 2021, and that it combines a Bitcoin vault with onchain Earn, Cash and Borrow rails so holders can earn yield and borrow while keeping their private keys. The company is headquartered in Hong Kong. It did not disclose the amount raised, the valuation, or how much of the round each investor took.
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“Bitcoin holders shouldn’t have to choose between keeping their keys and putting their Bitcoin to work,” said Ken Liao, Founder and CEO of Xverse. “Xverse is the financial account where you can hold, earn, borrow and spend, without ever handing your Bitcoin to someone else. That’s what a Bitcoin bank should be.”
Draper Buys The Thesis
Draper Associates has backed Tesla, SpaceX, Coinbase, Robinhood, Twitch and Skype, according to the firm. Draper Dragon, a cross-border fund in the Draper Venture Network, was founded in 2006 by Draper with Larry Li, Andy Tang and Bobby Chao. Trust Machines builds Bitcoin applications and infrastructure.
“Everything in crypto converges to Bitcoin, and I’ve spent years funding the infrastructure that gets it there. Xverse is building the Bitcoin money app. This is what replaces the bank for regular people,” said Tim Draper, Founding Partner of Draper Associates.
Coins Leaving The Exchanges
Xverse’s release says Bitcoin DeFi total value locked hit an all-time high in 2025, citing DefiLlama, and that exchange balances fell to an all-time low in 2026, citing CoinGlass. Confirm both against DefiLlama’s Bitcoin category and CoinGlass before publication, and swap in current figures.
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