When Visa revoked WaveCrest's license in January 2018, dozens of crypto cards died overnight. The biggest single-point-of-failure event in crypto card history.
| Company Type | Visa Prepaid Card Issuer (Gibraltar) |
| Clients Affected | TenX, Wirex, Bitwala, and dozens more |
| Shutdown Date | January 5, 2018 |
| Cause | Visa compliance issues |
| Warning Given | Almost none — immediate shutdown |
WaveCrest Holdings was a Gibraltar-based company that served as the primary Visa prepaid card issuer for the entire EU crypto card industry. Nearly every crypto card in Europe ran through WaveCrest.
On January 5, 2018, Visa revoked WaveCrest's license over compliance issues related to how cards were being issued and monitored. The shutdown was immediate.
Crypto card companies like TenX, Wirex, and Bitwala received almost no warning. One day their cards worked; the next day, every single one of their users' cards was cancelled.
This event exposed a critical vulnerability: the entire EU crypto card ecosystem depended on a single card issuer. When that issuer failed, everything collapsed at once.
TenX
$80M ICO
Wirex
Later recovered
Bitwala
Rebranded to Nuri
Cryptopay
Major delays
Xapo
EU cards affected
+Dozens more
Smaller providers