Relai

• Name: Relai
• URL: https://relai.app/
• Category: bitcoin brokerage and self-custody wallet operator / recurring-buy and treasury concierge company
• Tags: bitcoin-ecosystem
• Summary: Relai belongs in companies/ because the useful control surface is not only a Bitcoin-only app exists but a named operator that runs the regulated brokerage shell around that app: Relai EU’s MiCA/CASP perimeter, Relai AG’s Swiss SRO shell, customer verification, bank-transfer and instant-buy workflow, recurring-buy defaults, direct-to-wallet guidance, large-ticket relationship-manager onboarding, and the custody / tax / loan partner packaging users inherit when they move beyond a simple retail purchase. The practical question is not just how does the Relai wallet work? but which organization controls the brokerage, onboarding, treasury concierge, and support shell around this self-custody story?
• What it does:
  • Operates a Bitcoin-only buy / sell app that combines recurring purchases, quick verification, and a self-custodial wallet under one branded service shell
  • Runs the regulated operating perimeter across Relai EU and Relai AG, with the homepage explicitly presenting MiCA / AMF registration for the EU entity and VQF SRO membership for the Swiss entity
  • Packages self-custody as part of the product story while still controlling the brokerage, onboarding, and customer-support workflow many users will experience first
  • Extends the same company shell into Relai Private and Relai Business, where relationship managers, document collection, large-volume execution, and treasury-style onboarding become first-class features
  • Advises on custody setup and routes users toward hardware wallets or trusted external providers, making partner and workflow packaging part of the real control surface rather than just a neutral exchange screen
  • Publishes support guidance for wallet backup, restoration, and BIP-39 import/export behavior, which helps define the practical recovery and continuity shell users inherit around the self-custodial app
• Key claims:
  • The homepage frames Relai as Swiss made, Bitcoin only, and Self-custody, and says users are in full control of their bitcoin, which is important because the company is selling a brokerage-and-onboarding shell around a non-custodial wallet posture rather than a pure hosted-exchange account
  • The same homepage says Relai operates under robust regulatory frameworks across the EU and Switzerland, specifically naming Relai EU as a MiCA CASP registered with the French AMF and Relai AG as a VQF SRO member in Switzerland
  • The homepage says users can complete a quick verification and buy bitcoin in a few minutes, which is direct evidence that admission and verification workflow remain part of the company boundary even when the wallet is self-custodial
  • The Relai Private page says the service is a premium, concierge-level service for large bitcoin trades and includes a dedicated relationship manager, onboarding call, document upload, and personalized trading support
  • The Relai Business page says companies upload proof of business, financial means, and fund origin for KYC / AML checks before receiving access to the web app and personalized execution support, which makes the treasury and compliance shell especially explicit
  • The same Private and Business pages say Relai helps clients choose custody from hardware wallets to trusted external providers and packages adjacent services like Blockpit tax support and Sygnum-backed bitcoin-collateralized loans for eligible Relai AG customers
  • Relai’s support articles say the wallet is BIP-39 compatible, can be restored with a 12-word recovery phrase, and can be imported into other compatible wallets using derivation path m/84’/0’/0’/0/0, which matters because the company is pairing a portability-friendly wallet with a tightly branded brokerage and onboarding shell rather than trapping users in pure custodial lock-in
• Whitepaper: No standalone company whitepaper is the important artifact here. The clearest current primary materials are the official homepage, the Relai Private and Relai Business pages, and the support articles on backup and wallet import; see ../whitepapers/relai-company-primary-sources-2026-08-09.md.
• Sources:
  • https://relai.app/
  • https://relai.app/private/
  • https://relai.app/business/
  • https://support.relai.app/en/
  • https://support.relai.app/en/articles/239811-how-do-i-import-my-relai-wallet-into-another-bip-39-application
  • https://support.relai.app/en/articles/194360-how-can-i-restore-my-relai-account-wallet

Internal linkages

• Alias note for legacy project placement: relai.
• Useful adjacent company reads for bitcoin brokerage, self-custody packaging, and treasury workflow: river, strike, and bull-bitcoin.
• Useful custody-and-recovery product contrast: bitkey.

Protocol / company boundary

• Relai is better kept as an entity note than as a standalone projects/ note because the practical dependency is a named company running onboarding, verification, bank-transfer execution, recurring-buy defaults, concierge trading, support, and partner packaging rather than a separable protocol surface.
• The interesting control plane is the operator shell: who admits the user, which legal entity and regulatory perimeter they enter, how treasury clients are onboarded, how direct-to-wallet or external-custody flows are framed, and which support and partner paths are normalized around the app.
• Keep [[../projects/relai]] only as an alias so existing links keep resolving without pretending Relai is a neutral protocol primitive.

Control surface

• Practical leverage sits in customer verification, regional legal-entity routing, bank-transfer and buy / sell workflow, recurring-plan defaults, relationship-manager onboarding for large buyers, custody guidance, and the support / recovery shell wrapped around the wallet.

• The sticky dependency is not only the app UI. It is Relai’s regulated brokerage, treasury concierge, and onboarding boundary — especially once a user or business relies on the company’s execution support, custody recommendations, compliance flow, or partner packaging.

• Read Relai here as a bitcoin brokerage and treasury operator first and as a wallet app second.

• Last reviewed: 2026-08-09 UTC