Wyre Announces Modification of Withdrawal Policy, Pushing Topps to Temporarily Suspend NFT Marketplace Transactions

Following reports that the crypto payments firm Wyre was shutting down operations, CEO Ioannis Giannaros offered a contradicting story, stating that the firm was merely “scaling back.” Wyre has now announced that it is “modifying” its withdrawal policy, citing the crypto industry downturn and the “macroeconomic climate” as factors that have affected the company. On Friday, Wyre stated that it is now “exploring strategic options.”

Three days ago on Jan. 4, Bitcoin.com News reported that crypto payments firm Wyre was closing its operations. The news followed the failure of the $1.5 billion Bolt acquisition deal and the departure of co-founder Michael Dunworth, stepping down from his role at the company. On Jan. 6, Wyre published an update for the community addressing speculation about the company.

“We have not been immune to the challenges of the current macroeconomic climate and the recent events that have shaken the crypto industry,” Wyre explained on Friday. Additionally, the company has changed its management structure, with Ioannis Giannaros becoming executive chairman and Stephen Cheng serving as interim CEO. In its update, Wyre also announced changes to withdrawals, stating that users are now limited in the amount they can withdraw.

“We are modifying our withdrawal policy. While customers will continue to be able to withdraw their funds, at this time, we are limiting withdrawals to no more than 90% of the funds currently in each customer account, subject to current daily limits,” Wyre’s update details, noting that “This will best position us to serve and maximize value for our customers and stakeholders.”

The Wyre withdrawal issue has affected other parts of the crypto industry, as collectibles and candy company Topps emailed customers about the incident and its impact on its non-fungible token (NFT) marketplace. “You may have seen reports that Wyre, a wallet service provider for our secondary marketplace, may be shutting down or scaling back operations,” the Topps email details. “We have been assessing the situation and, as of today, Wyre released an official statement.” Topps added:

In light of this and as a precautionary measure, we are temporarily suspending transactions in the shop and marketplace effective immediately. Rest assured that your collection continues to be safe and secure.

During the second half of 2022, crypto blowouts and failures created a contagion that spread to nearly every corner of the ecosystem. Last year, several crypto firms that were thought to be reliable became insolvent. It seems 2023 won’t be able to escape the bad news either.

What do you think about Wyre modifying its withdrawal limits? Let us know your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.