The Toronto-based Ethereum-focused investment firm said it will wait to make a final determination about the value of its US$1.5-million investment in the cryptocurrency-payments company, which it made in 2018. California-based Wyre announced Friday it is exploring strategic alternatives and limiting withdrawals to 90 per cent of the funds in a user’s account amid deteriorating business conditions. (The Logic)

Talking point: The rapid change in Wyre’s fortunes mirrors the whiplash of the broader crypto market over the past two years. In September 2022, online checkout company Bolt Financial scrapped its planned US$1.5 billion acquisition of Wyre, which would have been the largest ever non-SPAC acquisition of a crypto company. Axios reported last week that Wyre intends to wind down its business in the coming weeks, citing an email from the CEO. In a release, Ether Capital said its investment in Wyre represented about two per cent of its total assets as of September and a writedown would not have a material impact. Meanwhile, once-TSX-listed bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital is calling criticism of its US$1-billion plan to sell assets to Binance.US “hypocrisy and chutzpah.”