# Nuri is back

> - Bitwala grew to 500,000 users in 32 European countries, rebranded to Nuri in 2021 and filed for insolvency in August 2022 after the Celsius collapse.
> - A group of Bitcoin builders from Berlin bought the Nuri brand and rebuilt it from scratch, with no bank.
> - Your passkey derives your key on your device, and no partner holds your money.
> - Nuri is live on iOS and Android in 32 European countries, with a free wallet, Visa card and IBAN.

By emin.de AI Desk. AI-written, human-supervised: not yet reviewed. Published 2026-03-28. Updated 2026-03-28.
Canonical: https://emin.de/posts/nuri-is-back
First published: https://medium.com/@em/nuri-is-back-5e0cc3a506ca (2026-03-28)
Category: nuri. Format: essay. Language: en.
Provenance: ai_generated. AI-assisted: true. Reviewed by a human: false.

*The Bitcoin neobank is back, but without the bank.*

![](https://emin.de/media/nuri-is-back/01-097732b6.png)

## From Bitwala to Nuri

In 2015 a small team in Berlin had a simple idea. Make Bitcoin
spendable. They called it Bitwala. Over the next six years the company
grew to 500,000 users in 32 European countries, raised €42 million in
venture capital and became one of the best known crypto brands in
Germany.

In 2021 Bitwala rebranded to Nuri, short for "new reality", and pushed
into mainstream banking with savings plans, investment pots and a
partnership with Solarisbank.

**Basically,** A Berlin team made Bitcoin spendable, grew to 500,000 users and raised €42 million.

## Then everything collapsed

Then everything collapsed.

The crypto winter of 2022 hit Nuri at exactly the wrong time. Terra
Luna went down, Three Arrows Capital went down and, most of all,
Celsius Network went down, and that chain reaction starved the company
of liquidity. Celsius was a key partner behind the interest products
of Nuri.

When Celsius froze withdrawals, the business model of Nuri broke
overnight. And on top of that there was the pressure of trying to get
a banking licence in Germany.

On August 9, 2022 Nuri filed for insolvency in Berlin. Three months of
restructuring followed. No buyer was found and no new investors came
in. On October 18, 2022 CEO Kristina Walcker-Mayer asked all customers
to withdraw their funds by December 18. Nuri shut down.

The 500,000 users had to take their money out of their wallets and
bank accounts. The original founders relaunched under the old Bitwala
name with a stripped down app focused on Bitcoin. The Nuri brand and
the [nuri.com](http://nuri.com) domain were sold to new owners, and
that's where this story picks up.

**Basically,** Celsius froze withdrawals, Nuri filed for insolvency on August 9, 2022 and shut down.

## Why we bought the brand

We are a group of Bitcoin builders from Berlin and early users of
Bitwala, and we bought the Nuri brand because we believe the original
vision was right, but a few things went wrong. Bringing Bitcoin
together with everyday spending is more relevant today than it was in
2021.

What killed the old Nuri wasn't the product idea. It was counterparty
risk, custodial infrastructure and a partner that went bankrupt and
took the business down with it.

**Basically,** The vision was right. Counterparty risk and a bankrupt partner killed the old Nuri.

## There is no bank

So the new Nuri is built from scratch. Old code, old architecture and
old risk all stay behind. And there is one big difference. There is no
bank.

When you open Nuri you create a passkey. Through a cryptographic
process called PRF that passkey derives your private key right on your
device. There is no account on a server, there is no database with
your credentials and there is no company that holds your money.

The passkey is the wallet. From that moment you can send and receive
Bitcoin, Euro and Dollar stablecoins. You don't need to verify your
ID, you don't fill in forms and you don't wait. You touch your
fingerprint and you have a wallet.

If you want to verify your identity, you get more. A free Visa debit
card, an IBAN for bank transfers and a way to move money between
crypto and the normal banking system. But the wallet works without any
of that. You get in without permission and you still get the full
thing.

**Basically,** Your passkey derives your private key on your device. No server account, no forms, no waiting.

## Nobody holds your money

The old Nuri failed because it trusted a third party with user funds.
We don't. Your Bitcoin sits in a self-custodial wallet secured by
MuSig2 Taproot multisig. Your stablecoins live in a Safe Smart Account
on Gnosis Chain. Your Visa card runs on Gnosis Pay, and your IBAN and
bank transfers run on the e-money infrastructure of Monerium.

Every partner gives a service, but none of them hold your money. If
one partner disappears tomorrow, your funds are still yours, onchain,
and you get to them with your passkey. That's the difference between a
neobank and a neobank without the bank.

**Basically,** Every partner gives a service, none holds your funds. If one disappears, your money is still yours.

## Bitcoin as money

Nuri is not a trading app. It's not an exchange and it's not a place
to speculate on altcoins. Nuri is a wallet that treats Bitcoin as
money and not as an asset to flip. You save in Bitcoin because it's
the hardest money ever made.

You spend with your Visa card because the world still runs on Euro and
Dollar. The conversion happens in the background and you don't have to
think about it. We support USDT, USDC, EURe and more stablecoins in
local currencies. But the native global cash of the internet isn't a
stablecoin, it's Bitcoin.

Stablecoins are the bridge, the Visa card is the interface and Bitcoin
is the base. Save in Bitcoin and spend it like cash.

**Basically,** Save in Bitcoin, spend with the Visa card. Stablecoins are the bridge in between.

## Magic Internet Money

Magic Internet Money is the oldest Bitcoin meme, an old reddit ad, and
it's still the most honest way to say what this is. Money that lives
on the internet. Money that doesn't need a bank, a government or
anyone's permission to work. Money you can send to anyone, anywhere,
right away.

The old financial system asks who you are, where you live, how much
you earn and if it may see your documents. Nuri asks if you would like
to create a passkey. That's the product and that's the vision. Money
for everyone.

**Basically,** The old system asks who you are. Nuri asks if you would like to create a passkey.

## Live now

Nuri is live now on iOS and Android in 32 European countries, and we
are expanding to another 40 within the next 3 months. Download the
app, create a passkey and start sending and receiving Bitcoin, Euro
and Dollar in seconds. The wallet is free, the Visa card is free and
the IBAN is free, and you don't pay a minimum balance or monthly fees.

Your money, freed.

*Get the app at* [*nuri.com*](https://nuri.com)

**Basically,** Live in 32 European countries, 40 more planned in 3 months. Wallet, card and IBAN are free.