Sources: crypto payments startup Wyre told staff that it is shutting down; Bolt planned to acquire Wyre for ~$1.5B but canceled the deal in September 2022
Wyre, a crypto payments company founded in 2013, has told employees that it is shutting down amid layoffs, Axios has learned.
Axios
Context & Ripple Effects
Bolt’s planned $1.5B acquisition of Wyre would have joined one-click checkout with crypto payments, but Bolt abandoned the transaction in September. Wyre’s reported shutdown turns that failed expansion into a loss of an independent payments provider.
The subsequent winding-down notices show the shutdown moved beyond staff layoffs to a process for investors to withdraw platform assets.
First-order effects
Wyre employees face the immediate loss of the company’s operations amid layoffs, while its investors and platform users must prepare for wind-down arrangements.
Bolt remains without the crypto-payments business it had agreed to buy, ending its planned integration with Wyre.
Second-order effects
Wyre’s withdrawal removes a crypto-payments option for customers and partners that relied on its platform, requiring them to shift activity or assets as the company winds down.
The failed transaction and shutdown make Bolt’s earlier acquisition strategy a weaker signal of commitment to crypto payments than the original deal announcement suggested.
Third-order effects
If similar deals fail to close while standalone providers wind down, crypto-payments infrastructure is likely to concentrate among operators with enough capital to sustain compliance and customer-asset obligations through market stress.
The trend: The episode is part of a retrenchment in crypto payments, where ambitious checkout-sector expansion plans are giving way to wind-downs and narrower operating footprints.
Wyre, a cryptocurrency payment company founded in 2013, has informed employees that it will close down due to layoffs and plans to terminate its services in January 2023, Axios reported. https://www.axios.com/...
I sent an email to Wyre some months back asking about their Yield product—in large part because Wyre+Yield was used by a bunch of small CeDeFi and fintech apps. Their response insinuated Wyre+Yield had been closed for months, but some apps were still using it for their treasury. …
Crypto firm Wyre said to shut down as CEO admits to “scaling back” w/ the great @BradyDale. One, now former, employee tells me they have no plans to re-enter crypto after this. https://www.axios.com/...
Wyre was one of the pioneers in crypto on/off-ramps, I liked their website/ethos/product. It led to tons of crypto adoption and did a great job bridging to web3. As a more regulated web3 world emerges, working with Qualified Custodian's like @FortressXYZ becomes very important.
Kind of crazy that 6 months ago someone was willing to oh $1.5B for a crypto payment company that hasn't yet cracked what their product is. But then, that someone was also valued at $11B back then & is clinging to the unicorn status today https://www.axios.com/...
Wyre shutting down is terrible for crypto adoption / web2.5 Wyre enabled embedded on-ramps and off-ramps for some of the biggest players like MetaMask and Opensea, among others. Even more wild, it looks like no competitors have off-ramping to fill the vacuum as of yet. https://tw…