Nuri Bank Review: What Happened to Nuri in 2022

Nuri no longer exists, so there is no current Nuri bank to review. The Berlin crypto-friendly neobank filed for insolvency on 9 August 2022, announced in October 2022 that it was shutting down, and asked customers to withdraw their money by 18 December 2022. Nuri never held its own banking licence: its euro accounts ran through its partner Solarisbank, and its crypto wallets through Solaris Digital Assets. Vivid Money, another Solarisbank-powered app, offered to take over Nuri's customers. The part that went wrong for many users was Nuri's Bitcoin interest product, which was run with the lender Celsius and frozen when Celsius failed. If you are researching Nuri today, this is what happened, what it teaches about app banks, and what to look at instead.

What Nuri Was

Nuri was a Berlin-based app that combined a German euro current account with buying, selling and holding Bitcoin and Ether in the same place. According to Decrypt's report of the insolvency filing, it had "more than 250,000 customers in 32 countries" as of its Series B funding round the year before (Decrypt, 10 August 2022).

Crucially, Nuri was not a bank in the legal sense. It said customer funds were safe "due to our partnership with Solarisbank AG", and that its custodial crypto wallets were operated by Solaris Digital Assets GmbH. In other words, the account you saw in the Nuri app was held by a licensed partner, and Nuri was the company that built the app around it. This model is usually called banking-as-a-service, and many of today's neobanks still work this way.

Timeline: From Insolvency to Shutdown

Why Nuri Failed

Nuri's chief executive, Kristina Walcker-Mayer, gave two reasons when the closure was announced. "This year, the challenges have become insuperable due to the tough economical and political environment of the past months," she said, adding: "On top, the insolvency of one of our main business partners worsened the situation significantly and put us over the edge" (The Block, 18 October 2022). The Block reported that the company had been unable to find outside investment or a buyer.

The partner whose collapse made things worse was Celsius. Nuri's Bitcoin interest account had been launched in partnership with Celsius, and when Celsius froze withdrawals and went bankrupt, Nuri users could not withdraw from those accounts. Nuri's own words at the time were blunt: "The Celsius withdrawal freeze remains unchanged, and the withdrawal function remains inactive" (Decrypt).

What Happened to Customers' Money

The answer depended on which product the money sat in.

• Euro balances were held through Solarisbank, a licensed German bank, which is why Nuri could tell customers the insolvency did not affect their deposits.
• Bitcoin and Ether in Nuri wallets were held in custody by Solaris Digital Assets, separately from Nuri itself.
• The Bitcoin interest account was a different matter: the coins had been placed with Celsius to earn a return, and they were caught in Celsius's withdrawal freeze.

When the shutdown was announced, customers were asked to withdraw everything by 18 December 2022. The Paypers reported that Nuri customers were forwarded to the Vivid app, where they could "create a Vivid account and transfer any remaining credit directly", and that Vivid, like Nuri, was "powered by Solarisbank", a bank "authorised and supervised by the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin)" (The Paypers, 24 October 2022).

We have not found a reliable, current public source on how the Celsius-linked balances were finally settled for Nuri customers, so we do not state an outcome here. If you were affected, rely only on official insolvency correspondence.

A Warning for Former Nuri Customers

Failed financial firms attract recovery scams. If someone contacts you offering to recover Nuri or Celsius funds in exchange for an upfront fee, a "release payment" or your wallet's recovery phrase, treat it as fraud. Legitimate insolvency processes do not ask for a fee to release your money and never need your seed phrase. Our guide to cross-border scams to avoid describes the common patterns.

Three Lessons Nuri Teaches About App Banks

1. Know who actually holds your money. The app's brand and the licensed institution are often two different companies. Nuri's euro accounts survived its insolvency because they sat with Solarisbank. Before you open any app account, find the name of the bank or e-money institution in the small print. Our neobank deposit protection guide explains how to read it.

2. Deposit protection covers deposits, not crypto. A bank deposit guarantee is for money in a bank account. It does not cover crypto assets, and it does not cover crypto that has been lent to a third party to earn interest. Our crypto banking guide covers what does and does not protect crypto holdings.

3. A yield product adds a counterparty. Nuri's interest account worked only as long as Celsius did. Any product that pays you a return on crypto is lending your assets to someone, and that someone can fail. Our explainer on earn and borrow accounts walks through the risks to check.

What to Use Instead of Nuri Today

Nuri combined two things: an everyday euro account and a place to buy crypto. The safer way to rebuild that is to keep them apart.

• For the everyday account, choose a provider that holds its own banking licence or names its licensed partner clearly. If you are in Europe, our guide to N26 alternatives compares app-first banks such as N26, Revolut and bunq, and our best banks in Europe guide covers the wider field.
• For buying crypto, use a separate, regulated exchange and move only what you are prepared to lose. Check that the platform is authorised where you live; our crypto banking guide shows how to check the EU register.
• For your bank's attitude to crypto, read our explainer on why banks block crypto transfers before you pay an exchange for the first time — it saves a lot of frustration.

A Five-Minute Check Before You Trust Any App With Money

Nuri's story is unusual in its details but not in its structure. Before you move a salary or savings into any app, run through these checks — they take minutes and would have shown Nuri's set-up clearly.

1. Find the licensed entity. Scroll to the footer of the app's website or the account terms and note the company that holds the deposits. If the app says it is "not a bank", look for the partner bank's name.
2. Look that entity up on the regulator's register. In Germany that is BaFin; in the UK, the Financial Conduct Authority register; in the US, the FDIC's BankFind. If you cannot find it, do not deposit.
3. Separate each product. The current account, any crypto wallet, any savings "pot" and any interest product may each sit with a different company and carry different protection.
4. Ask who receives the money for any yield. If the answer is a lender or platform you have never heard of, you are taking that company's risk.
5. Keep an exit route. Hold a second account at a different institution so that a freeze or closure at one does not leave you without access to money for weeks.

Frequently Asked Questions

Does Nuri bank still exist?

No. Nuri filed for insolvency on 9 August 2022, announced its closure in October 2022 and asked customers to withdraw their funds by 18 December 2022.

Was Nuri a real bank?

Not in the legal sense. Nuri's euro accounts ran through its partner Solarisbank AG, a licensed German bank, and its crypto wallets were operated by Solaris Digital Assets GmbH.

What happened to Nuri customers' money?

Nuri said its insolvency did not affect deposits, crypto funds or Nuri Pot investments, and asked customers to withdraw everything by 18 December 2022. Balances in the Bitcoin interest account, run with Celsius, were frozen when Celsius halted withdrawals.

Who took over Nuri's customers?

Vivid Money announced in October 2022 that it was taking over Nuri's customer base and invited customers to open a Vivid account and transfer their remaining balance.

Why did Nuri go bankrupt?

Its chief executive cited a tough economic and political environment and the insolvency of a main business partner. The Block reported that Nuri could not find outside investment or a buyer.

What is a good alternative to Nuri?

Keep your bank account and your crypto separate: a licensed app bank for everyday money, and a regulated exchange for any crypto you choose to hold. Our N26 alternatives guide is a good place to start for the account.

This is general information, not financial or legal advice. Crypto assets are volatile, can lose all their value and are not covered by deposit guarantee schemes. If you were a Nuri customer with an unresolved claim, follow the official insolvency correspondence you received.