- Calvin Ayre, a major backer of BSV cryptocurrency, is linked to the collapse of German payments company Wirecard.
- Tagesschau investigation reveals Ayre-controlled entities managed millions in Wirecard funds.
- Ayre is a Canadian gambling billionaire who has funded developer Craig Wright and blockchain ventures.
- The UK High Court confirmed Wright is not Bitcoin creator Satoshi Nakamoto in a final ruling.
- The findings challenge former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun’s defense about the company’s financial fraud.
Calvin Ayre, a Canadian gambling billionaire and financial supporter of the cryptocurrency BSV, has been linked to the scandal surrounding the German payments firm Wirecard. A new investigation by Tagesschau, a program from Germany’s largest public broadcaster, uncovered that funds amounting to hundreds of millions of euros passed through entities connected to Ayre. These entities held significant Wirecard money during its financial collapse.
The investigation found that Ayre allegedly provided $570 million to nChain, a blockchain intellectual property company, and controlled multiple companies designated as Wirecard’s “third-party acquirers.” These third parties were reportedly used to hold funds for Wirecard’s Asian operations, but many transactions were directly tied to Ayre’s network. One source, former nChain CEO Christen Ager-Hanssen, said that Ayre and Wirecard mutually depended on each other as a channel for processing gambling revenues.
According to Tagesschau, Ayre’s Tyche Consulting—a company involved in his blockchain projects—had a London branch that oversaw €8 million (about $9.3 million) for Wirecard. The report reviewed 500,000 Wirecard transactions involving these third-party accounts, strengthening the connection between Ayre’s companies and the fraudulent elements of Wirecard. This connection calls into question former Wirecard CEO Markus Braun’s defense that unauthorized management of funds was limited to Wirecard’s ex-COO Jan Marsalek and his group.
Ayre came to public attention as a gambling magnate with a known fortune, estimated to have made him a billionaire through online casinos and early Bitcoin (BTC) investments. He also funded and supported Craig Wright, the Bitcoin developer who falsely claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto, Bitcoin’s creator. Wright’s legal battles, financed in part by Ayre and nChain, ended with the UK High Court ruling in March 2024 that Wright is not Satoshi. This ruling is final, and Ayre subsequently stepped back from social media.
Ayre’s past includes legal troubles, such as a misdemeanor gambling-related charge after previously appearing on the US Immigration and Customs “Most Wanted List.” Despite his public image as a blockchain entrepreneur, Tagesschau’s investigation portrays a financial link between Ayre’s ventures and one of the largest corporate frauds in Europe. German prosecutors have not yet disclosed how this information will influence ongoing cases against Wirecard.
For further details, visit the original Tagesschau investigation here and more analysis on Ayre’s involvement with blockchain and politics can be found here.
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