Oct. 22, 2025 – Kiwi-Coin, New Zealand’s longest-running Bitcoin exchange since 2014, will cease trading on Jan. 1, 2026, after years of banking “de-risking” blocked its ability to operate – leaving Lightning Pay NZ as the last fully NZ-owned crypto platform in a sector gutted by closures and foreign takeovers.
In an Oct. 17 email to customers, Director Lev Sidorenko detailed the decision:
“Since 2020, the Virtual Asset Service Provider industry in New Zealand has faced significant barriers to doing business due to the inability to obtain, or maintain, access to banking services. Unfortunately, Kiwi-Coin has been caught in the middle of what is widely known as ‘de-risking’ by the New Zealand registered banks. It has been difficult for Kiwi-Coin to operate its business for the past years without a bank account, when its business is centred on exchanging New Zealand customers’ New Zealand dollars to Bitcoin, and vice versa.”
The shutdown ends an 11-year run that outlasted four local rivals.
Trading halts on Dec. 15, 2025, forcing users to withdraw NZD and Bitcoin or rely on post-closure transfers to verified accounts.
Kiwi-Coin’s demise marks the near-extinction of New Zealand’s homegrown crypto era, where ownership stands at about 15% across the country - driven by personal investments and Web3 startups – yet systemic banking barriers, hacks and overseas consolidation have wiped out nearly all domestic platforms.
Kiwicoin's legacy homepage
The toll spans a decade of de-risking-driven failures.
BitNZ: Folded in 2017 due to banks refusing service, halting operations amid hostility toward Bitcoin.
NZBCX: Ceased in 2021 from banking difficulties, blocking access to providers and suspending NZD deposits since 2019.
Cryptopia: Imploded in 2019 after a hack stealing $30 million; liquidation dragged until December 2024 refunds.
Vimba: Shut down in 2020 over capital shortfalls, failing to raise funds for sustained Bitcoin services.
BitPrime: Halted trading in 2022 amid liquidity crises, fueled by market volatility and inability to secure capital.
Dasset: Collapsed in 2023 with $6.3 million in missing funds; under ongoing Serious Fraud Office probe.
Kiwi-Coin: Halting trading on January 1, 2026, due to banking de-risking, cutting off services and choking deposits for NZ crypto viability.
Even P2P holdouts like Coined.nz remain suspended from around 2020, blocked by BNZ’s refusal to support crypto transactions.
New Zealand's crypto banking crisis - a week of public hearings
These failures aren’t isolated – they’re symptoms of a deeper de-risking crisis that’s starved compliant crypto firms of basic banking access. Blockchain NZ has ramped up advocacy on this front, submitting to Parliament’s Finance and Expenditure Committee in September 2025 on the inquiry into banking competition. The group highlighted how Web3 businesses, despite meeting AML/CFT standards, face “significant barriers” to bank accounts, urging regulators to mandate access for verified VASPs and amend the Banking Code of Practice to curb arbitrary de-risking.
Public hearings on the inquiry are set to begin today on Wednesday, 23 October with all major banks, including Australia's big four. See the schedule here.
Janine Grainger – Easy Crypto NZ’s co-founder and former Blockchain NZ regulatory lead until 2021 – has been vocal on the human cost. In a May 2023 RNZ interview, she accused major banks of “bullying” and “intimidation” by refusing transactions to crypto firms like Easy Crypto, calling banking access a fundamental right for ethical, compliant businesses.
“It’s essential for innovation and for Kiwis to engage safely with digital assets,” she said, warning that without reform, local ecosystems will continue to wither.
The Financial Markets Authority (FMA) deems crypto “high-risk and speculative,” providing no fixes despite Blockchain NZ’s pleas for guidelines.
The remaining kiwi owned services
In March 2025, Australian giant Swyftx acquired Easy Crypto – NZ’s largest homegrown exchange with 350,000+ users and $3.5 billion in transactions – erasing its independent status. The deal, finalised by March 31, merged Easy Crypto into Swyftx’s 1.1 million-customer base, retaining some Kiwi staff but planning to fold Easy Crypto's under the Swyftx branding.
“This acquisition brings together two top-rated exchanges in the ANZ region,” Swyftx CEO Jason Titman said, citing synergies in security and innovation. Easy Crypto co-founder Janine Grainger called it a “natural fit,” but for NZ’s local ecosystem, it symbolised the end of self-reliant trading.
Two NZ-owned platforms remain: Pay It Now (PIN) and Lightning Pay NZ.
- Pay It Now (PIN), operated by Christchurch-based Takeoff Media since 2022, supports swap between 40+ assets and serves 25,000+ users. It offers exchange, wallet, and payment tools - including 0% merchant fees for 400+ NZ/AU stores - winning Innovative Solution of the Year at the Blockchain NZ 2024 Awards.
- Lightning Pay NZ, launched in beta 2024 by Rob Clarkson, Brandon Bucher, and Simon O’Collins, is a Bitcoin-only exchange using the Lightning Network for instant NZD ↔ BTC swaps It raised $4M by May and won Web3NZ Startup of the Year 2024.
With Kiwi-Coin’s closure, these are the last fully independent, NZ-operated crypto services. The question looms, Swyftx’s global reach or Kiwi loyalty?