---
title: "Why Lazerpay shut down"
description: "Lazerpay, a Nigerian crypto payment gateway founded in 2021, shut down on April 13, 2023 after failing to close a follow-on funding round amid a prolonged crypto bear market; it had already laid off staff in November 2022 as an early warning sign before fully closing and offering its IP for sale."
canonical_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/lazerpay"
markdown_url: "https://liners.com/graveyard/lazerpay.md"
type: "graveyard"
language: "en"
image: "/graveyard/lazerpay/certificate.png"
published_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
updated_at: "2026-07-31T17:41:07.836Z"
---

# Why Lazerpay shut down

Lazerpay, a Nigerian crypto payment gateway founded in 2021, shut down on April 13, 2023 after failing to close a follow-on funding round amid a prolonged crypto bear market; it had already laid off staff in November 2022 as an early warning sign before fully closing and offering its IP for sale.

## Breadcrumbs

- [Graveyard](/graveyard)
- [Lazerpay](/graveyard/lazerpay)

## Summary

Here lies Lazerpay. It let over three thousand businesses accept crypto and stablecoin payments across Africa. But the bear market froze its next round; layoffs came first, then the full stop, and merchants were told to withdraw their funds before the gateway closed.

Lazerpay, a Nigerian crypto payment gateway founded in 2021, shut down on April 13, 2023 after failing to close a follow-on funding round amid a prolonged crypto bear market; it had already laid off staff in November 2022 as an early warning sign before fully closing and offering its IP for sale.

## Product history

| Field | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Fate | ShutDown |
| Primary cause | FundingRunway |
| Stage at shutdown | Seed |
| Lifespan in days | 820 |

## Autopsy report

## What the product attempted

Built a blockchain-based payment gateway enabling businesses to accept stablecoin and cryptocurrency payments (Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, etc.), targeting merchants across Africa.

## What worked

Onboarded over 3,000 businesses and processed more than $1 million in transactions.

## Early warning signs

Conducted layoffs in November 2022, roughly five months before the full shutdown.

## What happened

After struggling through late 2022 and early 2023 to close a new funding round amid the crypto downturn, Lazerpay laid off staff in November 2022, then announced a full shutdown on April 13, 2023, telling merchants to withdraw funds by April 30, 2023 and putting its IP up for sale.

## Sources

- [Lessons Learned: The Case of Lazerpay's Shutdown](https://startupgraveyard.africa/blog/lessons-learned-the-case-of-lazerpays-shutdown): Techpoint Africa
- [Nigerian crypto payment startup shuts down, offers IP for sale](https://cointelegraph.com/news/nigerian-crypto-payment-startup-shuts-down-offers-ip-for-sale): Cointelegraph
- [Nigerian crypto startup, Lazerpay shuts down](https://techcabal.com/2023/04/13/crypto-and-web3-startup-lazerpay-shuts-down/): TechCabal

## Related pages

- [Lazerpay alternatives](/lazerpay/alternatives)
- [Liners Graveyard](/graveyard)

## Access and citation

- [Canonical HTML page](https://liners.com/graveyard/lazerpay)
- [Markdown route index](/sitemap.md)
- [Agent access guide](/llms.txt)