Good day everyone,
I hope you are all well and having a great day, welcome to CryptoGod-1's blog on all things crypto. Today I will be looking at an interesting recent development with Wyre, the Crypto Payments Platform. They have implemented a daily withdrawal limit of up to 90% of a users funds on its platform, citing it is in the best interest of their community.
Wyre
Developed in 2013 and headquartered in San Francisco, California, USA, Wyre is a developer of a blockchain-based payments. Its platform is "designed to change the future of how international payments are done" while providing real-time pay-outs, same-day transfers, and direct-to-bank transfers. This is done to enable businesses to move money across borders from country to country at a competitive foreign exchange rate. It provides onramps and off-ramps, foreign exchange, and crypto liquidity to users of various crypto projects including decentralized exchanges.
Its main team includes its co-founder and CEO Yanni Giannaros, Chief Compliance Officer Stephen Cheng, and Sam Schlachter as Head of Engineering. Back in April 2022 it was rumoured that Bolt Financial Inc, a payments-focused financial technology company, were in the process of acquiring Wyre for a reported $1.5 billion. In September 2022 it was announced that the planned merger had been scrapped and instead Bolt and Wyre mutually agreed to continue their partnership as independent businesses with the goal of bringing more innovation to eCommerce and crypto.
Withdrawal Limit
Announced in a tweet on the 7th of January 2023, Wyre updated its withdrawal policy and informed its users of the reasoning for doing so. this modification means that users now fact a limit on the amount they are able to withdraw on a daily basis, being capped at cashing out up to 90% of their assets. This was done to ensure the best interests of their community, as the platform explore ways to navigate the prolonged bear market by ensuring there is no liquidity grab from their platform. They are also looking at ways to engage in new operational strategies to further enhance the platform, although users may not be entirely satisfied with these new polices and their sudden implementation without any real forewarning.
It is also interesting to note that the Tweet cannot be replied to, meaning users are unable to vent their frustration directly to @sendwyre. It is somewhat hypocritical of the tweet thread to end with a "sincere appreciation for the support and positive sentiments from their community," which while I am sure there has been, is on a tweet where those in the community are unable to voice their frustrations. Wyre claim their operations continue as normal bar the withdrawal limit, and they will share any updated information with the community as it becomes available.
Changes to Management Structure
As part of the announcement they also updated users of the change in their management structure. Former Chief Risk Officer and Chief Compliance Officer Stephen Cheng well take over the role acting as interim Chief Executive Officer (CEO). Meanwhile, Yanni Giannaros, will move into a new role as the Executive Chairman while continuing to provide valuable guidance and support to Wyre.
Wyre Dropped by MetaMask
This all comes mere days after two former employees allegedly hinted the possibility of a shutdown of the platform. These rumours were fuelled by a reported email which Giannaros, then CEO, had sent to employees. According to Axios, the email from Giannaros stated that:
“We’ll continue to do everything we can, but I want everyone to brace themselves for the fact that we will need to unwind the business over the next couple of weeks.”
Following the failed $1.5 billion merger into Bolt, the ongoing thought is that the company is unable to continue without that influx of capital. Even though the deal was axed in September 2022, the companies did manage to agree on a separate deal which incorporates Wyre’s one-click solution into Bolt’s customer platform. A former employee has also been reported to have made a post on social media giant LinkedIn claiming to have been laid off and not believing Wyre would continue on as a profitable business. It was also stated there was no severance package offered and many workers at Wyre did not believe they would ever be offered a severance package upon termination of their contract.
These reports were followed by a collapse in the partnership between Wyre and crypto wallet MetaMask. It was on January the 5th, 2023, that MetaMask announced the removal of Wyre from its mobile aggregator. That came as a big shock as MetaMask had allowed users to purchase cryptocurrency directly onto their digital wallets through the use of Wyre. The tweet from MetaMask informed users that they should no longer use Wyre on the mobile aggregator as MetaMask was working on an extension to remove it as a payment option. They still have other services, such as Apple Pay, MoonPay, and Bank Card / Transfers available.
Many users may be sceptical of these latest moves, with the rumours circulating and limits applied to withdrawals always a red flag. Hopefully if you do have assets with Wyre they will be secure and safe, or you will be able to withdraw as much as possible over time. Once again the term of "not your keys not your crypto" comes into play, and now it seem "not your keys only 90% of your crypto" is the motto from Wyre.
Have a great day.
Peace. CryptoGod-1.
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