Wyre Bows Out: Crypto Platform Succumbs to Bear Market

Wyre, a major crypto payments platform, is closing down after the bear market pushed it to the ground. Due to challenging market conditions, Wyre has reluctantly ended its crypto operations.

In addition, Wyre said anyone can inquire about buying the company.

The End of an Era: San Francisco’s Wyre Closes Doors, Citing Bear Market Struggles

A crypto payments company based in San Francisco is closing its doors after nearly a decade in business. Shutting down is mainly due to financial difficulties caused by the bear market, not strict US government regulations.

In a blog post from June 16, the firm announced it was winding down to “protect the best interest of our key stakeholders and customers.”

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 14th. After then, we will have a separate process to recover assets remaining on the platform,

According to the company

Wyre also suggested that its assets are up for sale, saying that:

If you’re interested in acquiring Wyre’s or its subsidiaries’ assets, please reach out to 88 Partners.

Wyre’s Crypto Saga: Acquisition Fallout, Layoffs, and the Trials of the Bear Market

In September 2022, according to reports, Bolt, a company specializing in one-click checkout, canceled its acquisition plans worth $1.5 billion.

A fiat-to-crypto on-ramp provider, Juno, advised its users on January 4 to move their crypto assets into self-custody. Wyre, their custodial partner, was perceived as uncertain, so this recommendation was made.

Juno’s users were concerned that Wyre could face regulatory scrutiny and wanted to move their assets into self-custody to secure them. By providing this advice, Juno was taking steps to ensure that its users’ assets were safe.

On the same day, MetaMask, a popular crypto wallet, stopped supporting Wyre’s crypto payment services.

The company implemented a 90% withdrawal limit soon after, but it was removed on January 13 after receiving financial support from an unnamed “strategic partner.”

75 Wyre employees were laid off in January, significantly impacting the company. This company’s closure adds to the list of crypto and blockchain startups struggling to survive.

Other crypto companies, like Unbanked, BottlePay, TradeBlock HotBit, and Terressa, shut down in May.

This is due to the lack of investment and interest and the volatility of crypto markets. The overall market downturn in the past year has made it difficult for many crypto companies to stay afloat.

Many crypto companies shut down because of the bear market, while others blamed user adoption or regulatory uncertainty. Despite the market downturn, the industry is optimistic that it’ll recover eventually.