German Digital Bank Nuri asks customers to withdraw funds by December 18

Nuri will disable trading facilities on November 30th, 2022.
The banking services provider could not survive economic conditions.
CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer wrote an emotional letter explaining the move.

Blockchain based banking services provider Nuri will stop operations by December 18th, 2022; trading services will be available till November 30th, 2022.

Founded in 2015 under the name Bitwala, the Berlin based company changed its name to Nuri after changes in the company’s business. Nuri provided banking services and crypto wallet services. Its services are available in 6 European countries: Germany, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, France and Spain; Nuri accepts only Euros. Nuri customers can open Bitcoin and Ethereum wallets, a regular bank account which is connected to the crypto wallet. Nuri had 500,000 customers when the letter was published.

The CEO of Nuri, Kristina Walcker-Mayer wrote a letter on the company’s blog stating the reasons for Nuri’s closure, important dates in the future. She also thanked all stakeholders.

Kristina wrote that the company had filed for ‘temporary insolvency’ in August because it could not find ‘new acquirers’ or raise funds to survive a difficult economic and political environment. After filing for temporary insolvency, the company could not manage to attract new investors or a potential acquirer.

“Unfortunately, we have not been able to find investors to continue our mission and have asked our customers to withdraw their funds by 18/12/2022 the latest, so the business can be terminated and liquidated.” Kristina wrote.

“Customers have access and will be able to withdraw all funds until the aforementioned date. All assets in your Nuri account are safe and unaffected by Nuri’s insolvency. Trading will be possible until 30/11/2022.” she added.

Bear raid knocks out another crypto focussed startup

The CEO explained that adverse macroeconomic conditions created by the pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine war and a weak capital market were hurting business. Finally, when Celsius filed for insolvency, Nuri decided to follow suit in order to capture breathing space to revive itself. The Terra-Luna crash exacerbated the situation while the company was struggling to find acquirers. The crypto winter was the last nail in the market.

Celsius is another financial services company focussing on cryptocurrency. It provided loans in fiat currency against cryptocurrency deposits as collateral. Celsius had to prevent its users from withdrawing funds because of a bearish spell in the market following the Terra-Luna crash. At its height, Celsius boasted 1.7 million users and around 11 billion dollars in Assets Under Management (AUM). When Celsius filed for bankruptcy, it was discovered that $4.7 billion were owed to consumers alone.

Another crypto lending platform Voyager filed for bankruptcy this year. 3 Arrows Capital (3AC) a crypto focussed hedge fund also filed for bankruptcy this year. After the stablecoin Terra crashed this year, the crypto winter has prolonged for the longest time.

Andrew is a blockchain developer who developed his interest in cryptocurrencies while his post-graduation. He is a keen observer of details and shares his passion for writing along with being a developer. His backend knowledge about blockchain helps him give a unique perspective to his writing