Lazerpay, a crypto and web3 payment gateway closing down

[Charles-Tim]

Four days ago, I posted about Lazerpay closing down on Nigeria local board because it is a Nigerian company, but when I checked the payment gateway FAQ not quite long, I saw that they are providing services for people in these following countries:

• Nigeria
• Ghana
• Kenya
• India
• United States of America
• China
• and United Kingdom

The reason for closing down:

Nigerian crypto payment startup, Lazerpay, shut down last week due to a lack of funds.

The shutdown follows Lazerpay’s failed attempt to raise a seed fund last year. The lead investor in the funding round had withdrawn due to market conditions and disagreements on terms.

Marchants are to withdraw all their money in fiat or crypto before 30th April.

https://twitter.com/njokuScript/status/1646531643371585546?t=XMULGkOrX7GpvSpfa2r5Sg&s=19

[1714617097]

1714617097

[examplens]

maybe it's a little off-topic here, but I saw that the Nigerian government has banned all foreign payments. is it possible that such a decision initiated such an epilogue?

when I already mentioned, how you function now in Nigeria with foreign payment, did you manage to somehow bypass this ban? such a ban sounds quite autocratic and I would say that it is a big step backwards.

[PX-Z]

So investors related problem again, looks like institutional investors are more wary investing their capitals to crypto-related companies, but it was last year though. Finding investors this date while crypto is in bullish form may sounds like assuring, but talking to terms-related issue is the most problematic one.

I checked their site, looks like they are just offering payment gateway. For a payment gateway only service offering is not new to investors, having more service/features is the one they are looking for ^{(i guess)}, i'm comparing it to the crypto payment-gateway here in my country where they offer, paying bills ^{(internet, electric, water)},  as exchange too, sms prepaid loads, game credits, loans, tv vouchers, cards, so many more that's why they can get more investors when they are offering seed funding, sounds like everything lol.

[Charles-Tim]

maybe it's a little off-topic here, but I saw that the Nigerian government has banned all foreign payments. is it possible that such a decision initiated such an epilogue?

I do not think it is related than to be becuase of last year bear market and disagreements. I do not think it is related to the ban at all because it is not foreign to Nigerians.

when I already mentioned, how you function now in Nigeria with foreign payment, did you manage to somehow bypass this ban? such a ban sounds quite autocratic and I would say that it is a big step backwards.

We can go to the bank that we registered with to obtain a dollar card. Dollar card has even been existing before the ban and it has higher withdrawal limit at the time too.

[SFR10]

but when I checked the payment gateway FAQ not quite long, I saw that they are providing services for people in these following countries:
~Snipped~

I think it might actually be more than the seven countries they've listed in the latter part of their FAQ page ^{[refer to the very first part of the same page]}:
^{- Having said that, I'm not sure if it's outdated or not!}

• ~Snipped~
  Basically, we help you receive payments for goods and services in cryptocurrency and payout to over a 160 countries in local currencies.

Marchants are to withdraw all their money in fiat or crypto before 30th April.

https://twitter.com/njokuScript/status/1646531643371585546?t=XMULGkOrX7GpvSpfa2r5Sg&s=19

Almost all of the comments seem to be positive, but I really think giving their users roughly two weeks is not going to be enough ^{[I hope I'm wrong]}.
^{BTW, the 5th paragraph (intellectual property) hints at the possibility of it coming back in a different form.}

[un_rank]

I think it might actually be more than the seven countries they've listed in the latter part of their FAQ page ^{[refer to the very first part of the same page]}:
^{- Having said that, I'm not sure if it's outdated or not!}

It could be a misunderstanding with the language which was used. The list in the Op is about countries that support withdrawal, this could mean that they allow transfers all over the world and one can receive the payment, but only in designated countries can one withdraw to their local currency.

For example, someone in Kenya^{[a listed country}} can receive and send to someone in Spain^{[not listed]}, but only the person in Kenya can withdraw to their bank account, while the person in Spain cannot. Correct me if my interpretation is wrong.

- Jay -

[rat03gopoh]

So investors related problem again, looks like institutional investors are more wary investing their capitals to crypto-related companies, but it was last year though. Finding investors this date while crypto is in bullish form may sounds like assuring, but talking to terms-related issue is the most problematic one.

I also think so, their concern may be related to the incident of several reputable p2p exchangers in years that were recently shut down. However, this service also caters for multiple fiat withdrawals. At least the investors can withdraw early with conditions that aren't too bad.

[joniboini]

their concern may be related to the incident of several reputable p2p exchangers in years that were recently shut down. However, this service also caters for multiple fiat withdrawals. At least the investors can withdraw early with conditions that aren't too bad.

I'm not sure they are the same though. I mean, they are trying to solve different problems. Those P2P services are closing because it is no longer profitable since that is the only thing that they do. If anything, I believe competitions from other payment gateways are quite strong, not to mention there are open-source alternatives out there. In this case, the reason given is also quite clear. Market conditions and disagreements on terms, basically mean their investors believed injecting more money into them with the terms that were discussed at the time was not profitable for them. At the same time, they failed to find another investor and can't lower their demands since that was probably the minimum level to run their operations.

[BenCodie]

A true web3 solution would not be able to be shut down. It would be functional by smart contracts and would entail a minimal cost to run. Other cryptocurrencies I could understand, as they would all probably require full nodes in order to keep systems functional. Failure to raise capital sounds like a pretty poor excuse to shut the doors. If the business was functional and making a profit, it should be able to survive without it and with more usage, should come more resources to expand or at least maintain. It sounds more like they have given up if lack of business is not the reason for shutting down.

[yhiaali3]

.Failure to raise capital sounds like a pretty poor excuse to shut the doors. If the business was functional and making a profit, it should be able to survive without it and with more usage, should come more resources to expand or at least maintain. It sounds more like they have given up if lack of business is not the reason for shutting down.

Not a poor excuse, in such difficult market conditions and also the deteriorating economic situation in many countries, there are many famous payment companies that have closed their doors due to lack of business and bad market conditions.

Also, do not forget that the economic situation in Nigeria is bad, banks are suffering and they set very difficult conditions for withdrawals, in addition to the strict laws that the Nigerian government imposes on crypto companies.

[PX-Z]

I also think so, their concern may be related to the incident of several reputable p2p exchangers in years that were recently shut down.

I don't think so, their very reason is not about having regulatory problems since they are just payment gateways unlike the other p2p exchanges that shut recently. This is a common problem of startups not getting enough investors to continue their business