With XO Pay, Exodus is ditching the clunky on-ramp and joining a new wave of self-custodial wallets embracing plug-and-play compliance.
Exodus Taps Coinme Crypto-as-a-Service
For years, buying crypto through a wallet felt like doing laps in a relay race. Users were tasked with copying wallet addresses, hopping between apps, and verifying identities three times over. Exodus wants to cut all that friction with its new feature, XO Pay, a direct crypto purchasing tool baked into its U.S. mobile wallet.
The real engine under the hood is Coinme Crypto-as-a-Service (CaaS), an infrastructure provider that’s quietly powering a new generation of wallets, fintechs, and retailers through simple APIs and battle-tested compliance rails.
With XO Pay, Exodus users can purchase Bitcoin, Ethereum, and USD Coin using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay, or Google Pay, without ever leaving the app or giving up self-custody.
“XO Pay represents our commitment to making cryptocurrency more accessible to everyday customers,” said JP Richardson, Co-Founder and CEO of Exodus. “By integrating the purchasing process directly into our mobile wallet, we’re removing barriers and simplifying the journey from fiat to crypto, and back.”
This partnership is part of a bigger movement happening across Web3: wallet providers are no longer trying to build everything in-house. Instead, they’re plugging into modular crypto infrastructure. These Web3 providers are outsourcing everything from KYC to fiat payment rails, while focusing on the part they care most about: user experience. By doing this, they can quickly go to market with crypto buy/sell/store products without the overhead or expending in-house resources.
“By creating a Web2 checkout experience into a Web3 self-custody wallet, Exodus has set a new bar for crypto user experience,” said Neil Bergquist, CEO and co-founder of Coinme. “Exodus’ innovative integration of Coinme’s APIs delivers the seamless in-app purchase flow users expect while keeping them in full control of their assets.”
This embedded approach mimics what we’ve seen in fintech over the past five years, where banking-as-a-service platforms like Synapse or Unit allowed startups to launch debit cards and lending tools in weeks instead of years. When it comes to crypto, that enabler is increasingly Coinme.
Compliance Without Compromise
The crypto industry has long been torn between two competing forces: user freedom and regulatory pressure. Self-custodial wallets like Exodus do give users full control of their assets. But adding features like fiat on-ramps usually means stepping into a regulatory thicket.
With Coinme Crypto-as-a-Service handling KYC, AML, payment processing and even settlement, Exodus gets to focus on what it does best: elegant design, speed, and security. And users don’t get stuck between a slow onboarding process and yet another failed card transaction.
Web3 Trends Behind the Launch
XO Pay doesn’t exist in a vacuum. It’s the latest proof point in a few growing Web3 trends that are reshaping how users interact with crypto products.
One major shift is the rise of embedded finance in the crypto space. Just as traditional fintech apps once embedded checking accounts into their platforms, today’s crypto wallets are integrating on-ramps and compliance layers directly into the user flow, making the experience more seamless and intuitive.
At the same time, KYC-as-a-service is gaining traction. Wallet providers are increasingly offloading compliance burdens to infrastructure partners, opting for specialized solutions rather than managing KYC in-house. This allows them to focus on user experience without sacrificing regulatory standards.
Meanwhile, stablecoins like USDC are emerging as the preferred entry point for new users. By offering a familiar, less volatile asset as a first step, platforms are lowering the barrier to onboarding and making crypto feel more accessible.
All of this speaks to a broader evolution in user expectations. Web3 products are now competing with polished, mainstream services like Apple Pay and Cash App, meaning that clunky onboarding processes and outdated UX simply aren’t viable anymore.
Coinme’s Bigger Play
Coinme started in 2014 by powering physical crypto ATMs, but it’s quietly evolved into a heavyweight infrastructure partner. Through its Crypto-as-a-Service platform, it now helps fintechs, wallets, and even retailers launch fully compliant crypto services without navigating the regulatory minefield themselves.
For users, that means crypto is becoming faster, easier, and more native than ever. For Web3 builders, it means they can stop reinventing the wheel and start shipping faster.
As XO Pay shows, the wallets of the future won’t be stand-alone tools. They’ll be plugged in, compliant, and built for people who don’t want to think about blockchains. They just want their crypto to work.
