Bitwala
| Industry | Crypto payments / neobank-style banking interface |
| Founded | October 2015 |
| Headquarters | Berlin, Germany |
| Founder(s) | Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, Benjamin P. Jones |
| Website | https://www.bitwala.com/ |
Bitwala is a Berlin-origin crypto payments brand that has operated under the Bitwala name, rebranded to Nuri, wound down Nuri's banking product after insolvency proceedings, and later relaunched again as Bitwala with Striga infrastructure. Founders Jörg von Minckwitz, Jan Goslicki, and Benjamin P. Jones launched the company in October 2015. Early products included SEPA and SWIFT fiat payouts funded by bitcoin or altcoins, a Visa-linked debit card programme, and later wallet and mobile apps.
Early products
Early products included bitcoin-funded international transfers into local bank accounts, EmailPay payouts to e-mail recipients, a prepaid Visa debit card issued through Wave Crest Holdings under a Visa Europe licence arrangement, and HD multi-signature wallet features with two-factor authentication. In March 2016 the company raised a seed round of about US$910,000 led by High-Tech Gründerfonds with participation from Digital Currency Group.
Nuri rebrand and wind-down
Before May 2021 the company rebranded to Nuri, offering a bank-account-style product combined with bitcoin and ether wallets.[1]
Nuri filed for insolvency in August 2022 after workforce reductions during the crypto market downturn, worked with insolvency administrators on restructuring, and failed to find investors or an acquirer. CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer stated that customers should withdraw funds by 18 December 2022 so the business could be terminated and liquidated.[1]
2023 Bitwala relaunch
On 8 November 2023 Bitwala relaunched with Striga providing compliant digital-asset and banking infrastructure, so Bitwala did not need to carry the full regulatory burden of building that stack itself. The company said the Bitwala app was live in 29 countries in the European Economic Area for bitcoin and ether exchanged to euro and sent by SEPA transfer, and listed Lightning Network and crypto-backed Visa debit card support among planned development goals.[2]