German crypto bank Nuri shuts down; customers asked to withdraw funds by Dec 18

Berlin-based Nuri (formerly known as Bitwala), a digital bank, announced that it has ceased operations as the company failed to secure funding or an acquirer.

CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer stated in a blog post on the company’s website that they have not been able to attract investors to continue their objective.

Kristina says, “During the preliminary insolvency proceedings, we have worked very closely with our insolvency administrators on a restructuring plan in the past 3 months and tried to find a potential acquirer to continue our story. Unfortunately, we have not been able to find investors to continue our mission.”

Nuri asked its customers to withdraw their funds by December 18, 2022, so that the “business can be terminated and liquidated.”

Nuri filed for insolvency three months ago

Over the years, Nuri had gone through several transformations and re-positionings, ups and downs. However, this year, the challenges became insuperable due to the tough economical and political environment of the past months, which kept the company from raising new funds or finding an acquirer.

On top of that, the insolvency of one of its key business partners made things much worse and pushed them over the brink. As a result, Nuri was forced to file for provisional insolvency in August.

Nuri confirms in a blog post that “All assets in your Nuri account are safe and unaffected by Nuri’s insolvency. Trading will be possible until 30/11/2022. Even though we weren’t able to continue writing our story, the power of technology and the endless possibilities of blockchain-based finance won’t end here: We still believe in innovative financial technology and are convinced that blockchain, cryptocurrency and decentralised finance will offer opportunities that add true value to the lives of people.”

In the blog post, Walcker-Mayer commended Nuri’s staff for having “fought hard for the continuation of our business. You went through very tough times with us since the beginning of the year.”

According to LinkedIn, Nuri has 215 employees.

Brief about Nuri

Nuri was founded to make Bitcoin spendable. The startup aimed to empower people to save and grow money and achieve their personal financial freedom. With Nuri’s mobile bank account, customers could manage their daily finances as well as invest their assets.

Nuri worked with Solarisbank AG and Solaris Digital Assets GmbH to offer financial services that are consistent with the law. By bridging the gap between the old and new financial systems, it enabled its clients to profit from new forms of financial technology and the blockchain economy.

The startup was founded in 2015 under the name Bitwala by Jan Goslicki, Benjamin Jones and Jörg von Minckwitz. Christoph Iwaniez, Philipp Beer and Kristina Walcker-Mayer joined the management team later. Its investors include Earlybird Venture Capital, coparion, Global Brain, Sony Financial Ventures, G1, High Tech Gründerfonds, ALSTIN, DIP Capital, and the Digital Currency Group.

CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer, says, “Our vision was to create a world where everyone is empowered to build their financial future. We wanted to provide people with innovative ways to manage and grow their wealth. Our plans were ambitious and we were aiming to execute them at full speed.”