Key Takeaways
- Wyre stated any regulatory agency’s direction did not prompt the move
- Wyre has provided a withdrawal window until Friday, July 14th
San Francisco-based cryptocurrency payments firm Wyre recently announced its decision to shut down operations to protect the interests of its key stakeholders and customers. The company clarified that this move was not prompted by any regulatory agency’s direction.
In an official blog post, Wyre assured users that their assets would remain secure and provided a withdrawal window until Friday, July 14, through their dashboard. After this date, a separate process would be initiated to recover any remaining assets on the platform.
“Wyre continues to secure customer assets. If you have assets on the Wyre platform, you can continue to withdraw them via Wyre’s dashboard until Friday, July 14. After then, we will have a separate process to recover assets remaining on the platform,” the statement reads.
Wyre also indicated that its assets, along with those of its subsidiaries, were up for sale. Interested parties were advised to contact 88 Partners regarding the potential acquisition.
The troubles for Wyre reportedly began in September 2022 when Bolt, a one-click checkout company, canceled its plans to acquire Wyre for $1.5 billion. Since then, the company has faced a challenging period. On January 4, 2023, Juno, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp solution provider, urged its users to transfer their crypto assets from the Juno platform to self-custody due to uncertainty surrounding Wyre, their custodial partner.
The following day, MetaMask, a popular cryptocurrency wallet and decentralized application platform, also ceased support for Wyre’s crypto payment services for the same reason.
Shortly after these incidents, Wyre imposed a 90% withdrawal limit for all users. However, this restriction was swiftly lifted on January 13 after securing financing from an undisclosed strategic partner, indicating signs of recovery for the firm.
In January, Wyre reportedly let go of 75 employees as part of its restructuring efforts. These developments reflect the tumultuous journey Wyre has experienced in recent months, culminating in the decision to wind down its operations.
Wyre is, however, not the only firm to shut down its operations in recent months. Last month, a fractional-ownership NFT platform called Teressa shut down its operations, citing bad financial conditions. Earlier this year, prominent crypto fintech firm Unbanked also closed shop while citing a harsh regulatory environment for crypto in the United States.
