Ctrl Wallet, formerly known as XDEFI, said in a July 7 blog post that it will permanently shut down, though it didn't give a reason for the closure.
- The team behind Ctrl said it has removed the wallet from Apple's App Store, Google Play and browser extension stores.
- Users who already have the mobile app or browser extension installed can keep using it normally until August 2.
Until then, Ctrl said users can still send and receive assets, swap tokens, interact with apps and export their recovery phrase. But starting August 3, those features will be disabled.
The wallet will only let users open the app to access and export their 12-word or 24-word recovery phrase.
They can export their recovery phrase and import it into another compatible wallet, such as MetaMask, Trust Wallet or Phantom.
Or they can manually transfer assets to another wallet or centralized exchange, such as Binance or Coinbase, before August 3.
From acquisition search to shutdown
The shutdown follows an earlier attempt to find a strategic way out. In January 2025, Ctrl Wallet was exploring acquisition opportunities after Emile Dubie, the company's founder and CEO, said the firm needed "serious backing and support" to compete with larger wallet players.
- At the time, Ctrl Wallet was reportedly in a sale process, with a winning bidder expected to be chosen on January 31.
Reports said Ctrl had received a takeover offer and a merger proposal with a large decentralized exchange. But no acquisition was mentioned in Ctrl's shutdown notice, and no public deal announcement appears to have followed.
- Ctrl Wallet raised $6 million in a 2021 Series A round led by Mechanism Capital, bringing its total funding at the time to $7.2 million.
- Still, the wallet market has become brutally crowded, with MetaMask, Phantom, Trust Wallet, Coinbase Wallet and exchange-linked products fighting for the same users.