Bolt is set to acquire cryptocurrency start-up Wyre for $1.5 billion.

Wyre, founded in 2013, provides API infrastructure which enables retailers to accept cryptocurrency as a payment method.

Bolt, founded in 2014, is a US-based payment service that offers one-click shopping like Apple Pay or PayPal.

The companies said the move will allow Bolt's hundreds of partner retailers to accept cryptocurrency and consumers will be able to use crypto as payments for physical goods.

The tie-up will also allow consumers to purchase NFTs through Bolt, using Wyre's APIs.

The deal and infrastructure integration are anticipated to finalise later in 2022.

"This acquisition is the fulfillment of a long-time ambition,” said Ryan Breslow, founder and executive chairman at Bolt. “When I wrote the draft business plan for Bolt, I had always imagined cryptocurrency at its centre."

"That was 2015, and the idea was a slide on a pitch deck. To think that seven years later, we'd be partnering with Wyre to make that vision a reality is incredible.”

He added: “This acquisition will fast-track our efforts to democratize commerce—and it will serve as a powerful proof point for the union of cryptocurrency and commerce."

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