Share this article
Wyre Acquires Bitcoin Smart Contract Derivatives Platform Hedgy
E-payment startup Wyre has acquired bitcoin smart contract developer Hedgy to broaden the scope of its offerings.
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 8:21 a.m. Published Sep 7, 2018, 10:00 a.m.
Make us preferred on Google
Crypto payments startup Wyre has acquired 100 percent of Hedgy, a venture-backed bitcoin smart contract development firm, for an undisclosed sum.
The deal will help Wyre broaden the scope of the services it provides to crypto startups, the company's co-founder and COO Ioannis Giannaros told CoinDesk. Wyre provides cross-border payments using bitcoin, ethereum, litecoin and other cryptocurrencies to settle transactions.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Specifically, acquiring a smart contract platform will aid Wyre provide a wider financial ecosystem to crypto startups, according to Giannaros, with access to financial instruments such as forward contracts, swaps and more.
Wyre plans to take advantage of Hedgy's ability to "navigate" the regulatory space, he added, explaining:
"This is a really highly regulated area, and in this sense Hedgy generally has been extremely ahead of the time. They were doing smart contract derivatives at the time ethereum wasn't even there yet."
As well as being a blockchain application development platform, Hedgy provides bitcoin derivatives. It takes a particular focus on commercial miners who can lock in a price at which they want to sell bitcoin in the future, using smart contracts to settle the transaction on the bitcoin blockchain.
"In the world of bitcoin, the volatility that the markets have seen is part of its appeal to bring retail speculators, investors, and professional traders into the space. Over time, we're going to see this volatility cool down (might be a while!). When markets become less volatile, we see the increase in the demand for creative financial products that can offer things such as options and futures," a Wyre Medium post states.
As part of the deal, Hedgy co-founder and CEO Matt Slater will join Wyre as an advisor.
Miniatures image via Shutterstock
More For You
Pudgy Penguins is building a multi-vertical consumer IP platform — combining phygital products, games, NFTs and PENGU to monetize culture at scale.
What to know:
Pudgy Penguins is emerging as one of the strongest NFT-native brands of this cycle, shifting from speculative “digital luxury goods” into a multi-vertical consumer IP platform. Its strategy is to acquire users through mainstream channels first; toys, retail partnerships and viral media, then onboard them into Web3 through games, NFTs and the PENGU token.
The ecosystem now spans phygital products (> $13M retail sales and >1M units sold), games and experiences (Pudgy Party surpassed 500k downloads in two weeks), and a widely distributed token (airdropped to 6M+ wallets). While the market is currently pricing Pudgy at a premium relative to traditional IP peers, sustained success depends on execution across retail expansion, gaming adoption and deeper token utility.
More For You
Bitcoin tumbles to 2026 low of $85,200 as gold reverses big gains, Microsoft leads Nasdaq lower
Soaring to $5,600 at one point earlier on Thursday, gold quickly pulled back to below the $5,200 level in U.S. morning trade.
What to know:
- Already sitting on overnight losses, bitcoin's decline accelerated in U.S. morning trade, with the price falling back to $85,200, a new low for 2026.
- The quick selloff came amid a reversal in gold’s breathtaking rally, which had sent the yellow metal soaring above $5,600 at one point Thursday before quickly falling back to $5,200.
- The Nasdaq was also sharply lower, falling 1.5%, as Microsoft declined more than 11% following its fourth-quarter earnings report.
Top Stories
