Bitwala relaunches via partnership with Striga

By partnering with Striga, Bitwala receives compliant digital assets and banking infrastructure without being required to manage regulatory challenges. Striga, a fully-owned subsidiary of Lastbit, offers financial services infrastructure for companies in the crypto and banking sectors. The Bitwala app is currently available in 29 countries within the European Economic Area, enabling users to buy and sell Bitcoin and Ether with the euro using Single Euro Payments Area (SEPA) transfers. In regards to its platform, the company plans to integrate the Lightning Network and introduce a crypto-backed Visa debit card, both solutions being developed in partnership with Striga.

According to officials, Bitwala’s relaunched product is focused on the self-custodial Wallet, providing secure self-storage for users’ crypto. The company stated that it plans to return to its roots of Bitwala 1.0 from its launch in 2015, abandoning its ambitions of becoming a bank or building a complex business. Moreover, Bitwala intends to focus on enabling everyday usage of Bitcoin through on- and off-ramp, as well as the Visa card, which will be introduced in the upcoming period. 

Bitwala filed for insolvency in August 2022, stating liquidity issues due to a massive crypto bear market triggered by the Terra crash, with its operations shutting down in October 2022. At that time, Bitwala’s customer base was transferred to Vivid Money, a Germany-based neobank, with users being forwarded to the Vivid app. The company’s users could continue to manage their daily finances and trade cryptocurrencies, as Bitwala’s insolvency did not affect customers’ assets from their accounts.

Currently, representatives from Bitwala detailed that they planned to develop a bank at that time, having all the necessary documentation, audits, applications, and approvals. The company also hired a workforce for the bank, having approximately 250 employees at peak. However, during the fundraising process, Celsius, FTX, Terra/Luna, and Ukraine happened, causing investors to refrain from financing, thus leaving the company without funds. 

Through its solutions, Striga aims to facilitate simplified integration between financial and crypto infrastructures, removing technical and regulatory complexities. The company aims to allow its customers to focus on their core businesses, including developing and providing innovative services, while it supports compliance and legacy fiat infrastructures.

At the beginning of April 2023, Striga launched a set of APIs to help crypto companies generate self-branded cards. The crypto cards programme was developed for neobanks, Web3 apps, and crypto companies, aiming to allow these entities to issue crypto cards to their end users. 

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