Payments firm Bolt cancels $1.5 billion deal to buy crypto firm Wyre

Sep 9 (Reuters) – U.S. online payments firm Bolt Financial Inc said on Friday it had called off its $1.5 billion deal to buy cryptocurrency infrastructure provider Wyre Payments Inc, amid falling valuations in crypto and fintech companies.

San Francisco-based Bolt was last valued at $11 billion after a January funding round. However, lofty tech valuations have come under pressure this year as investor sentiment has been hit by fears of an impending recession and cooling stock markets.

Payments processor Stripe Inc and fintech Klarna Bank AB suffered significant valuation declines. Industry valuations have also fallen significantly in the crypto sector during a price crash over the past few months.

Bolt said in a statement that he would continue his partnership with Wyre, adding that remaining independent would allow him to focus on his core areas.

“We will continue our existing business partnership with Wyre to pave the way for integrating crypto into our ecosystem, bringing Wyre’s innovative crypto infrastructure to the world,” said Bolt CEO Maju Kuruvilla.

Reporting by Jyoti Narayan and Shubhendu Deshmukh in Bengaluru; Editing by Rosalba O’Brien and William Mallard

Our standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.