Bolt Financial Inc announced on Friday its decision to call off the $1.5 billion acquisition of cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Wyre Payments Inc. The online checkout company cited the plunging valuations of crypto and finance businesses as the driver for the abandonment of this decision.
Following the major price crash in the crypto sector over the last few months, fellow payments processor Stripe Inc and fintech firm Klarna Bank AB are among the companies that have experienced heavily declining valuations during this period. While the San Francisco-based Bolt previously attained an $11 billion valuation in January following a funding round, the company experienced a significant valuation cut amid growing fears of a looming recession and the cooldown of equity markets all around.
“We will continue our existing commercial partnership with Wyre to pave the path of crypto integration into our ecosystem, bringing Wyre’s innovative crypto infrastructure to the world,” Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla stated following the company’s decision to withdraw from the Wyre acquisition.
Bolt added that the decision to remain independent from Wyre will also enable it to focus on core areas of its business growth.