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Bitwala (formerly known as Nuri) is a blockchain banking service, headquartered in Berlin, Germany, that was founded by Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, and Benjamin P. Jones in October 2015.
| Founded | 2015 |
|---|---|
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Area served | European Union |
| Created by | Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, Benjamin P. Jones |
| Industry | Financial Services |
| Employees | 200+ |
| URL | bitwala.com |
| Current status | Active (redirect to bitwala.com/) |
Bitwala's concept first emerged in October 2015 when its founders Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, and Benjamin P. Jones launched operations for a global blockchain-based payment service provider headquartered in Berlin, Germany. According to Wired,[1] in contrast to other money transfer services like Western Union, Money Gram, and Transferwise, the German startup utilised digital currency to offer a much faster and cheaper solution.[citation needed]
During Bitwala's formerly hosted a product with a global reach. Their services enabled SEPA and SWIFT money transfers by exchanging Bitcoin or Altcoins to over 20 fiat currencies to any bank account in over 200 countries worldwide.[2]
In January 2018, Bitwala stopped their services when their prepaid card provider, WaveCrest Holdings LTD, had its VISA license withdrawn due to compliance issues.[3] The company was amongst many cryptocurrency service providers including CryptoPay, TenX and Wirex that could no longer sustain their full product offering.[4]
Bitwala joined European Fintech Alliance in August 2018.[5] The company launched their new website in October 2018, which coincided with the announcement of their partnership with solarisBank, a Berlin-based white label bank.[6]
In September 2018, Bitwala raised 4 million Euro from venture capital investors Earlybird and Coparion, enabling them to proceed with their re-launch in November 2018.[7] In December 2018 Bitwala launched Europe's first regulated blockchain banking solution that enables users to manage both their Bitcoin and Euro deposits in one place with the safety and convenience of a German bank account. The bank account is hosted by the Berlin-based Solarisbank.[citation needed]
Bitwala rebranded in May 2021 and changed their name to Nuri.[8][9]
Nuri filed for insolvency on Tuesday, August 9, 2022. Their press-release states that users funds and investments are safe at their partner bank, Solarisbank.[10][non-primary source needed]
As of December 2023, Nuri is back active under the Bitwala name.[citation needed]
References
edit- ^ "Wie Berliner Gründer euch mit der Blockchain bei Überweisungen ins Ausland helfen" (in German). 2016-04-16. Retrieved 2018-10-09.
- ^ "The booming Bitcoin business", Deutsche Welle, 2017-03-07, retrieved 2018-09-12
- ^ Kelly, Jemima (10 December 2018). "Gibraltar slaps £250k fine on WaveCrest; CEO stands down". Financial Times.
- ^ "Some cryptocurrency-backed debit cards dropped from Visa network, leaving users scrambling". 2018-01-05. Retrieved 2018-08-05.
- ^ "Bitwala joins European Fintech Alliance". The Fintech Times. 2018-08-07. Retrieved 2018-08-07.
- ^ "Blockchain-Bankkonto Bitwala startet Mitte November". IT-Finanzmagazin (in German). 2018-10-09. Retrieved 2018-10-08.
- ^ "Bitwala to launch blockchain banking in Germany after €4m fund raising". Finextra Research. 2018-09-25. Retrieved 2018-10-02.
- ^ Köln, Nils Wischmeyer (2018). "Bank mit Kette". sueddeutsche.de (in German). ISSN 0174-4917. Retrieved 2019-04-29.
- ^ "Bitwala rebrands as Nuri". Finextra Research. 19 May 2021. Retrieved 19 September 2022.
- ^ "Nuri filed for insolvency on Tuesday, August 9th, 2022". Retrieved 2022-08-10.