Fiat-to-crypto conversion platform Juno (previously known as OnJuno) has asked its customers to liquidate or proceed with self-custody of their cryptocurrencies held on its network, expressing “uncertainty” with its cryptocurrency custodial partner Wyre. Through a tweet dated January 4, the platform stressed that it does not keep any of its clients’ cryptocurrencies and instead depends on its “cryptocurrency partner” for these activities.
“Due to uncertainties with our cryptocurrency partner, we have initiated precautionary measures in the best interests of our consumers,” the company noted, noting that it is also aggressively contacting customers to establish self-custody. The “cryptocurrency partner” in discussion is believed to be the United States-based Money Service Business Wyre.
A few days before, Wyre CEO Ioannis Giannaros allegedly informed staff that the company “will have to dismantle […] in the coming weeks.” Giannaros stated in an email obtained by Axios that the company was “still working” but will “scale down to consider our future moves.”
In its most recent Twitter thread, Juno said that there were still $1.25 million worth of crypto assets kept on the site and that it has been encouraging clients to self-custody their holdings. In addition to temporarily blocking crypto purchases on its site, Juno also converts stablecoins to U.S. dollars and deposits them into government-insured accounts “which are FDIC Insured up to $250,000 through our partner bank.”
It also upwardly revised the daily withdrawal restrictions for all “metal” account users, its top-tier account, by a factor of five. While preparing this report , it seemed that customers of Juno could withdraw money without trouble, and the platform said other non-cryptocurrency-related operations were likewise undisturbed.
Juno stated that it intends to switch to a fresh cryptocurrency partner” but has not yet disclosed which companion or when the transfer would be completed. It stated that it was striving to resume purchasing and depositing cryptocurrencies “as quickly as feasible.”
