Newcastle fintech firm Bottlepay has announced it is closing its app two years after the company was acquired by a US crypto company in a $300m shares deal.
The company has been disrupting the digital economy since its launch in 2019, driven by initial seed funding of £11m and a subsequent takeover by leading bitcoin company New York Digital Investment Group (NYDIG). The deal value was never confirmed by NYDIG but was understood to have been paid in shares worth between $280m and $300m.
Bottlepay announced the app’s closure on social media and on its website, saying: “We’re very sorry to say that the Bottlepay consumer app will be closing on Monday 24th July 2023. Before that date, you should withdraw your funds, either as Bitcoin or fiat currency, from the Bottlepay app. Over the coming days, we will be stopping all deposits and exchanges from fiat to Bitcoin. Therefore, you will only be able to exchange from Bitcoin to fiat and withdraw both fiat and Bitcoin.
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“We’ve loved every minute of running Bottlepay, and we’re incredibly grateful to you, the customers who let us do it for as long as we did. We wanted to offer you a safe, efficient place to get your Bitcoin and use it for payments, and we’re really sorry to put you through the inconvenience of having to leave us. We can’t make recommendations about what to do with your Bitcoin - whether to find another custodial wallet, custody it yourself, or, convert it to fiat and withdraw to your bank account. If you are going to use another custodial wallet, though, we recommend you do your diligence on the provider first.”
The fintech firm was founded by Pete Cheyne, who started out by co-founding Performance Horizon, the Newcastle firm now called Partnerize which has won investment from around the world. He has been investigating blockchain technologies for more than a decade, but the first version of Bottlepay was closed at the end of 2019 when new EU laws were announced to clamp down on how cryptocurrencies are used, having raised $2m in investment to set up.
Bottlepay was relaunched amid aims to help people to make small digital payments to firms in an economic way. Its open payment network caught the attention of fintech giants as it disrupted the digital economy, by facilitating instant payments in a range of currencies, including bitcoin, using its Lightning Network, making global transactions viable.
Users of Bottlepay send payments in bitcoin or other currencies like pounds and euros instantly and without fees through the app, which has been available throughout the UK and Europe.
In January it was granted registration as a Cryptoasset Business from the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA), becoming one of a small number of cryptoasset firms to secure such approval and the first Lightning Network payments company to have done so. NYDIG was initially involved in a seed funding round for Bottlepay which raised £11m and valued Bottlepay at £51m before going on to fully acquire the company.
Business Live’s calls to Bottlepay went unanswered when we visited its serviced offices in Hoults Yard. NYDIG and Bottlepay, and its founder Mr Cheyne, have been contacted for comment.
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