Bolt to Purchase Crypto Startup Wyre for $1.5B

Payments FinTech Bolt Financial is buying crypto startup Wyre Payments in a deal worth reportedly worth around $1.5 billion.

“By joining forces, Bolt and Wyre will build commerce solutions for mainstream, secure cryptocurrency usage for millions of shoppers, retailers, and developers,” the companies said in a news release Thursday (April 7).

While the news release does not list a dollar amount for the acquisition, a Wall Street Journal story Thursday lists $1.5 billion as the rough sale price, per sources familiar with the matter.

Read more: Bolt CEO Breslow Steps Down

The deal is set to close later this year and will see Wyre help Bolt develop its API offering by integrating its crypto stack. The companies say this will let developers “use the top blockchain protocols to build financial products that can scale to millions of users across the globe quickly and securely.”

In addition, the companies say the purchase will give Bolt’s shoppers access to several cryptocurrencies, fiat exchanges, and compliance solutions. The hundreds of retailers on Bolt’s network will also be able to accept cryptocurrencies, while Wyre’s API will allow for the purchase of NFTs through Bolt.

“In a landscape filled with mediocrity, combining forces with Bolt to extend its robust CheckoutOS into cryptocurrency will set a new standard and provide new opportunities at a global scale,” said Ioannis Giannaros, co-founder and CEO of Wyre. “Simply put, we want to allow every retailer to transact easily in cryptocurrency, removing long-standing barriers.”

Bolt was founded in 2014 by Ryan Breslow, and provides payment software for online shopping websites, counting Forever 21 among its clients. Breslow announced he was stepping down as CEO earlier this year — he is still Bolt’s chairman — shortly after the company was valued at around $11 billion.

Wyre, like Bolt, is based in San Francisco and helps retail and business clients exchange national currencies and cryptocurrencies between banks and crypto wallets, as well as trading cryptocurrencies. The company is licensed to transmit money in 27 states in the U.S.

See also: PSP Mobilum Partners with Crypto Payments Firm Wyre to Enter US Market

Last year, Wyre launched a partnership with Canadian payment service provider Mobilum Technologies to help accelerate Mobilum’s U.S. expansion. The partnership involved integrating Wyre’s API and giving Mobilum the ability to process automated clearing house (ACH) transactions for American customers by using Wyre’s ACH payment rails.