Berlin-based crypto investment neo-bank Nuri, formerly Bitwala, failed to find a buyer after it filed for bankruptcy this summer.
“The “crypto winter” has claimed a victim in Germany. As a reminder, Crypto winter is a popular way to refer to market conditions in which most cryptos suffer very large and lasting losses in value. The term was coined by Crypto Bobby on September 20, 2018 when he posted a Twitter feed detailing how he saw the prices of most cryptocurrencies fall drastically from their 2018 highs.
This year’s crypto winter is said to be due to several factors, including the collapse of Terra luna.
Germany has not been spared from the winter, the platform Nuri, ex-Bitwala, is in bankruptcy, reports Sifted. Nuri’s originality lay in the fact that it presented itself as a specialized neobank.
Last August, the crypto bank Nuri had filed for bankruptcy.
Founded in 2015, Nuri was unable to find a buyer or raise new funds, its boss explained in a blog post. Customers have until Dec. 18 to withdraw their funds, before the liquidation. The start-up would have 120 employees, who will be laid off. According to Crunchbase, the platform had raised nearly 40 million euros since its inception, including from DIP Capital and Earlybird.
In addition, yesterday, Nuri’s CEO Kristina Mayer announced that “despite the company’s best efforts, it is not able to sustain operations in the future.”
Unlike some crypto platforms such as Celsius or Voyager Digital that had blocked their customers’ accounts, the crypto bank Nuri instead invites its users to withdraw their funds until December 18, 2022.
“We have not been able to find investors to continue our mission and have asked our customers to withdraw their funds by 12/18/2022, so that the company can be terminated and liquidated.
