Wyre CEO Dismisses Rumors of Impending Shutdown, Remains Optimistic
• Crypto Payments Company Wyre CEO Loannis Giannaros has downplayed claims that his company is planning to shut down operations this month.
• Michael Staib, formerly the technical engineer at Wyre, posted on his LinkedIn profile on December 31, 2022, saying: Wyre won’t continue as a profitable business.
• The Wyre-Bolt deal was scrapped in September, but the two firms agreed to remain „friends“ and continue to collaborate on projects.
Crypto Payments Company Wyre is 10 years old this year, and its peak price tag of $1.5 billion was agreed for its acquisition by American checkout and shopper network company Bolt on April 2022. However, five months later, the deal was discarded in September. In response, Wyre CEO Loannis Giannaros downplayed claims that his company was planning to shut down operations this month.
This rumor was sparked by an alleged email that the CEO sent to his employees telling them that he is liquidating the company and planning to terminate its services this month. Giannaros then deflated the speculation in a subsequent email, stating: “We’re still operating but will be scaling back to plan our next steps.”
The speculation was further fueled by a post made by Michael Staib, formerly the technical engineer at Wyre, on his LinkedIn profile on December 31, 2022, saying: “Wyre won’t continue as a profitable business.” The employees have been granted anonymity as the company has not authorized them to speak about the matter. Giannaros has not commented about the claims of his alleged former employees, with one of them disclosing that the company has not „yet“ offered a severance package. Nevertheless, several news sites have reached out to the crypto payments firm for comment.
Despite the Wyre-Bolt deal being scrapped, the two firms agreed to remain „friends“ and continue to collaborate on projects. Wyre CEO Loannis Giannaros stated that the company will be scaling down its operations in order to plan the next steps, and that it will continue to operate in some capacity. He clarified that the company will not be shutting down, but instead will look for new opportunities that could potentially bring in profits.
For now, the future of Wyre remains uncertain, but the company is determined to remain in business. Despite the speculation, the crypto payments firm has not given any official statement on its plans.