German Crypto Bank Nuri Asks Clients to Withdraw Funds as It Goes Out of Business

October 20, 2022 Bitcoin.com

German crypto bank Nuri tells 500K users to withdraw funds ahead of shut down

October 19, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Nuri will maintain crypto trading services until the end of November, and has encouraged users to withdraw their assets before the mid-December deadline.

German crypto bank Nuri has told its 500,000 users to withdraw funds from their accounts as the firm prepares to shut down and liquidate the business, marking it as another victim of the 2022 bear market.

Nuri first reported liquidity issues in August, after announcing that it had filed for insolvency amid the economic strains of Crypto Winter. It said at the time that business would continue as usual, as it worked on a restructuring plan and securing a buyout, however an acquisition has failed to materialize.

In an Oct. 18 blog post, Nuri CEO Kristina Mayer noted that despite the company’s best efforts, it is unable to maintain its operations moving forward.

Nuri is closing down its business operations. We ask our customers to withdraw their funds and assets as of 18.12.2022. Thank you for having been part of the Nuri community!

Here is a letter of our CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer: https://t.co/gdOOeoOKDs
— Nuri (@NuriBanking) October 18, 2022

Unlike bankrupt crypto lender Celsius which locked user withdrawals before everything went south, Nuri is encouraging users to withdraw all of their assets before the Dec. 18 deadline.

“Customers have access and will be able to withdraw all funds until the aforementioned date. All assets in your Nuri account are safe and unaffected by Nuri’s insolvency. Trading will be possible until 30/11/2022,” the post reads.

Mayer explained that “this year, the challenges have become insuperable due to the tough economical and political environment of the past months, which kept us from raising new funds or finding an acquirer,” and added:

“On top, the insolvency of one of our main business partners worsened the situation significantly and put us over the edge. As a result, Nuri had to file for temporary insolvency in August this year.”

While Mayer didn’t specifically name its insolvent business partner, Celsius appears to be the prime candidate as it had partnered with Nuri to offer Bitcoin (BTC) interest accounts to its customers. These accounts were halted when Celsius went towards bankruptcy.

Mayer also noted that the company is still bullish on the potential of blockchain-based financial services.

“We still believe in innovative financial technology and are convinced that blockchain, cryptocurrency and decentralized finance will offer opportunities that add true value to the lives of people. Still, financial innovation should be safe, understandable and easy to use for as many people as possible,” Mayer wrote.

German Crypto Exchange Nuri Files for Insolvency

August 10, 2022 Bitcoin.com

German crypto bank Nuri with 500K users files for insolvency

August 10, 2022 Coin Telegraph

Celsius

Nuri stated that it has been facing a “lasting strain” on its business liquidity in 2022 due to “significant macroeconomic headwinds and the cooling down of public and private capital markets.”

Nuri, a German start-up crypto bank with 500,000 customers filed for insolvency on Aug. 9, citing major crypto sell-offs, insolvency of Celsius and other crypto funds earlier this year as a reason for the move.

The crypto bank said the move will “ensure the safest path forward” for all its customers, but also stressed that the insolvency will not affect its services, customer funds, investments, or the ability for customers to withdraw their assets from the platform.

Nuri filed for insolvency on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022. This does not affect our services, customer funds or investments. You can find a complete statement of this situation on the Nuri Blog: https://t.co/UgAyckWE7J
— Nuri (@NuriBanking) August 9, 2022

Some customers have reported difficulties withdrawing their assets through Nuri's mobile app, however, Nuri on Twitter said this has been the result of high traffic and usage, and again stressed that "funds are safe."

Notably, the firm itself doesn’t actually handle customer’s fiat and crypto funds due to a partnership Solarisbank AG. According to the Solaris Group website, Nuri partnered with the bank and its crypto subsidiary Solaris Digital Assets to outsource banking and crypto custody licensing.

This enabled Nuri to scale its operations and services by utilizing Solaris’ banking and crypto asset infrastructure/licensing. With Solaris not facing any liquidity issues, Nuri is essentially able to carry on its services while the company undergoes restructuring, unlike other firms that have run into the same issues.

“Let us reiterate the most important information for you: All funds in your Nuri accounts are safe due to our partnership with Solarisbank AG. The temporary insolvency proceedings do not affect your deposits, cryptocurrency funds and Nuri Pot investments which have been done with us.”

“You have guaranteed access and will be able to deposit and withdraw all funds freely at any time. For the time being, nothing will change and Nuri’s app, product, and services will continue to run,” Nuri added.

Nuri stated that it has been facing a “lasting strain” on it’s business liquidity in 2022 due to “significant macroeconomic headwinds and the cooling down of public and private capital markets” such as the global pandemic and the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

“Additionally, various negative developments in the crypto markets earlier this year, including major cryptocurrency sell-offs, the implosion of the Luna/Terra protocol, the insolvency of Celsius and other major Crypto funds have led to a crypto bear market,” Nuri wrote.

Berlin-based Nuri, formerly named Bitwala, was founded in 2015 and offers crypto savings accounts, portfolio investment baskets dubbed “Nuri Pots” and crypto trading services which it charges 1% trading fees on.

"We are confident that the temporary insolvency proceedings offer the best basis for developing a viable long-term restructuring concept in the company's current situation," it added.

Nuri joins a host of crypto firms that have run into liquidity issues during the bear market of 2022, with the most notable names being Voyager Digital, Celsius and Three Arrows Capital.

German Exchange Nuri Files for Insolvency

August 9, 2022 The Crypto Briefing

Nuri

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