Crypto payments platform Wyre is winding down its business operation, according to a report published by Axios on January 4th, 2023. Data from multiple sources suggest that this move has something to do with the company’s ex-employees and associates.
“Looks like Wyre just shut down their business. Everyone in our shared Slack channel disabled except the GC. Hearing no severance,” said the founder of music investment company Royal.io, JD Ross. Wyre was founded by Ioannis Giannaros and Michael Dunworth back in 2013.
In April 2022, Bolt Financial Inc. agreed to acquire Wyre Payments Inc. The deal was expected to be closed by the end of last year. Based in San Francisco, both companies were attempting to provide a one-click crypto checkout system to ease online shopping, per Bloomberg reports.
“This acquisition will pave the way for seamless, secure crypto transactions, and NFT enablement for our retailers,” said Maju Kuruvilla, Bolt CEO in 2022. He added that “Both consumers and retailers will benefit from a friction-free buying experience that supports crypto and NFT natively.”
According to media reports, combining strength with Bolt, Wyre wanted to deliver a strong checkout system into the crypto sector which sought to set new standards and bring new possibilities worldwide, as per CEO Giannaros’s statement. The crypto payment firm wants to facilitate every retailer to make smooth transactions.
The Wall Street Journal reported the acquisition was valued at $1.5 billion. If confirmed, it would be the largest merger in the crypto space, which did not include SPAC (special-purpose acquisition company), or blank-check company, per the information from research firm Dealogic.
All doors closed for Wyre
Recently, crypto banking company Juno informed its users to self-custody their digital assets. Because of “potential risk” with former custodian Wyre as a result of wind down of operation soon, according to Juno’s co-founder and CEO Varun Deshpande. Well-known crypto wallet firm MetaMask also warned its customers “not to use Wyre.”
Data from Crunchbase suggests that Wyre has raised a total $29.1 million via nine funding rounds, including Amphora Capital, Stellar Development Foundation, Pantera Capital and more. Co-founder Dunworth stepped down from his role in September last year, cashing out 12.5% of his holdings.
“We’ll continue to do everything we can, but I want everyone to brace themselves for the fact that we will need to unwind the business over the next couple of weeks,” Giannaros wrote in an email to staff.
Nancy J. Allen is a crypto enthusiast and believes that cryptocurrencies inspire people to be their own banks and step aside from traditional monetary exchange systems. She is also intrigued by blockchain technology and its functioning.
Source: https://www.thecoinrepublic.com/2023/01/08/wyre-business-operations-halted-as-bolt-pulls-out-from-1-5-b-acquisition-deal/