Nuri, once a promising platform for crypto innovation, has closed its doors. There are no available investment opportunities. The Berlin-based Neobank Nuri officially shut down the business. They cited “insurmountable” obstacles that prevented the firm raising new funds or finding an acquisition.
Formerly known as Bitwala, Nuri filed for bankruptcy in August of this year. This was after having to let go of 20% of its workforce because the firm struggled with cryptocurrency prices.
Nuri said that the firm worked closely with its insolvency administrators to create a restructuring plan and to try to find a potential buyer.
“Unfortunately, it has been difficult to find investors to sustain our mission. We have asked our customers to withdraw their funds by 18/12/2022 latest so that the business can be terminated or liquidated,” Kristina Walcker Mayer, CEO, wrote in a post on Tuesday.
Nuri also mentioned the bankrupt crypto lending company Celsius, which was “one of our main business associates,”– the insolvency of which “worsened and put us overboard.
Customers were assured that their assets would be safe and undamaged by the company’s bankruptcy. They can also continue trading crypto until November.
Bitwala was in operation since 2015 and offered users the convenience of a regular account with Bitcoin or Ethereum wallets.
The company offered a variety of perks, including savings plans through recurring Bitcoin purchases and Nuri Pots, which are a collection of different ETFs and other investment products.
Nuri increased Series B funding to $23.5million (EUR24,000,000) in June 2021. It reported more than 250,000 customers from 32 countries.
Walcker-Maye stated that “Nuri looked beyond the old boundaries and leveraged new technologies including blockchain and decentralized financing to open up wide ranges of possibilities for anyone looking to manage and grow money.
Walcker-Maye regretted that Nuri couldn’t continue the story but said that she believes in the “endless possibilities of blockchain-based financing” that will “add real value to people’s lives.”
However, the harsh truth is that up to 215 Nuri employees, according to the company’s profile, are now on the verge of losing their jobs.
