San Francisco-based crypto payments firm Wyre has announced that it is winding down its operations.
The company, which has been in operation for almost ten years, cited financial difficulties caused by the bear market as the reason for its closure rather than regulatory issues in the United States.
In a blog post on June 16, Wyre stated that it made the difficult decision to wind down to protect its key stakeholders and customers. However, the company assured its customers they could still withdraw their assets from the payments platform through the dashboard until Friday, July 14. After that date, a different procedure will be to reclaim any remaining assets.
Furthermore, Wyre hinted that its assets are up for sale, and interested parties can contact 88 Partners for more information. Wyre’s troubles began on January 4, 2023, when Juno, a fiat-to-crypto on-ramp solutions provider, urged its users to remove their crypto assets from the platform due to uncertainty surrounding Wyre, its custodial partner.
MetaMask also discontinued support for Wyre’s cryptocurrency payment services the following day for the same reason. On January 13, Wyre imposed a 90% withdrawal cap for all users but soon lifted it after receiving funding from an undisclosed strategic partner, raising hopes of a recovery.
However, in January, the company reportedly laid off 75 staff members. Wyre is the latest addition to the list of cryptocurrency and blockchain businesses that have succumbed to the prolonged bear market. Other notable examples include Unbanked, BottlePay, HotBit, Terressa, and TradeBlock, all shut down in May.
