Learn · Structure
Who is actually holding your money?
Electronic money institutions, banks, and crypto neobanks sit in different regulatory boxes. The label changes protection, product, and risk.
On this page
Banks
Licensed to take deposits, often with deposit guarantee schemes (e.g. FDIC, DGS). Heavy KYC, slower product, stronger “boring” protection story for fiat.
EMIs
Issue electronic money, offer IBANs and cards in many cases, typically safeguard funds rather than lend them. Faster onboarding; not the same as insured deposits.
Financial technology companies (Glide)
Crypto sits in wallets and vaults you control — Privy-backed embedded wallets for everyday balances, Safe on EVM and Squads on Solana for treasury. Fiat sits with regulated banking and EMI partners under their custody and deposit-protection rules. Glide is not a bank, and crypto balances are not deposit-insured.
How to choose
Glide is a fintech company, not a bank and not a money transmitter. Every regulated service — holding funds, executing payments, converting currency, issuing cards — is provided by licensed partner fintechs and banks under their own permissions.
Written by
Glide Research
Payments research
Glide Research maps payment rails, FX corridors, and banking access so travellers, freelancers, and treasury teams can move money without legacy wire tax.
- Published
Glide · Learn
Glide — Global USD Account
Hold USD, receive and send Euros, pay like a local in 100+ countries. Most accounts open in about ten minutes. Send USD or EUR with the rate and the fee shown before you confirm.
- Global reach
- 100+ countries
- Custody
- Wallets and vaults you control; fiat held at regulated partners
- Regulated legs run by
- Licensed partners