Crypto.com has confirmed to CoinDesk that it is moving to reimburse customers, as the UK regulator orders the issuer of the Wirecard card to suspend all operations immediately.
Crypto.com CEO Kris Marszalek told CoinDesk that the company is reimbursing 100% of customer funds after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) suspended the activities of Wirecard Card Solutions, a subsidiary of the Wirecard Group, which filed for bankruptcy on Thursday after admitting to missing $ 2.1 billion last week.
“We will quickly proceed to credit the funds to our users’ crypto wallets,” said Marszalek.
All funds will be repaid in the next 48 hours.
The FCA ordered Wirecard Card Solutions to cease all regulated activities on Friday. The financial regulator said it had intervened to protect clients’ funds and would prevent the company from accepting or disposing of more revenue.
While the Wirecard Group is headquartered in Munich and is outside the jurisdiction of the FCA, Wirecard Card Solutions is based in Newcastle, in the north of England. Friday’s announcement affects all cards issued by Wirecard Card Solutions, including those belonging to Crypto.com and TenX users. Although it is not yet clear what could happen, one possibility is that all Wirecard cards will stop working.
Users will not be able to reload or transact with Crypto.com cards from today.
Both Crypto.com and TenX were silent after Wirecard admitted last Thursday that its $ 2.1 billion accounting hole may have come from employees who deliberately inflated the company’s revenue.
Both companies assured clients that their funds were safe because they were in the hands of a separate financial institution, but representatives declined to say if they were looking for another card issuer.
But Friday’s news has now forced his hands.
“We have been working on alternative solutions with our partners to ensure that our customers can continue with their cards, and we will provide an update on this in due course,” said Marszalek.
In a statement, Crypto.com said it was in the process of transferring its card program to a new provider.
TenX did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
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