Wyre, a crypto payments, exchange, and infrastructure provider founded in 2013, has reportedly informed its employees that it will be shutting down in January 2023.
The news comes as the cryptocurrency industry continues to suffer from a prolonged market downturn and growing mistrust of investors in crypto companies and exchanges.
According to a report by Axios, Wyre CEO Ioannis Giannaros sent out emails to employees during the holiday season informing them that the company would liquidate and terminate services in January. The report cites a former Wyre employee as the source of the information.
Speculation about Wyre’s future has also been fueled by comments from a former employee who claimed on LinkedIn that he was laid off and that Wyre “won’t continue as a profitable business.” The post has since been removed from the platform.
Another former employee has claimed that the company has not yet provided a severance package, leading to speculation that Wyre may not provide one at all.
When contacted by Axios, Giannaros did not comment on the claims made by former employees, but did say that “we’re still operating but will be scaling back to plan our next steps.”
The news of Wyre’s potential shutdown adds to the list of struggles faced by the cryptocurrency industry in recent years. The industry has seen numerous hacks that have cost hundreds of millions, as well as crypto firms and businesses filing for bankruptcy.
Some have dubbed the events of the past year as a “cleansing” or “purging” of struggling companies, and it seems that this trend may continue into 2023.
