Nexo Agrees to Pay $45 Million to SEC and State Regulators for Unregistered Offering of Earn Interest Product

The cryptocurrency lender, Nexo, has agreed to pay $45 million to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and several state regulators after charges were levied against the firm for failing to register the company’s Earn Interest Product (EIP). Nexo detailed that the settlements are on a “no admit, no deny” basis and that the arrangement “closes all multi-year-long inquiries into Nexo.”

On Jan. 19, 2023, Nexo announced that it has agreed to settle with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), the North American Securities Administrators Association (NASAA) and several state regulators, including the Office of the New York Attorney General, over an unregistered offering.

According to the SEC, around June 2020, Nexo started to offer the company’s Earn Interest Product (EIP), an interest-earning product that allows investors to earn interest on deposited crypto assets. The U.S. regulator said, “the EIP is a security and that the offer and sale of the EIP did not qualify for an exemption from SEC registration.”

Nexo’s co-founder, Kosta Kantchev, responded to the settlement in a statement sent to Bitcoin.com News. “We are confident that a clearer regulatory landscape will emerge soon, and companies like Nexo will be able to offer value-creating products in the United States in a compliant manner, and the U.S. will further solidify its position as the world’s engine of innovation,” Kantchev said. SEC chairman Gary Gensler described the settlement in a different manner.

“We charged Nexo with failing to register its retail crypto lending product before offering it to the public, bypassing essential disclosure requirements designed to protect investors,” Gensler said. “Compliance with our time-tested public policies isn’t a choice. Where crypto companies do not comply, we will continue to follow the facts and the law to hold them accountable. In this case, among other actions, Nexo is ceasing its unregistered lending product as to all U.S. investors.”

Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev thanked the company’s legal team from Schulte Roth and Zabel LLP and said the Office of the New York Attorney General helped Nexo secure this “most favorable” outcome. “We are content with this unified resolution which unequivocally puts an end to all speculations around Nexo’s relations to the United States. We can now focus on what we do best – build seamless financial solutions for our worldwide audience,” Trenchev detailed in a statement on Thursday.

Nexo’s settlement with U.S. regulators follows the recent investigation into Nexo’s dealings initiated by Bulgarian law enforcement officials. The crypto lender, however, vehemently denies the allegations stemming from Bulgaria’s attorney general.

What do you think about the outcome of the Nexo settlement and its impact on the regulatory landscape for crypto companies in the United States? Share your thoughts about this subject in the comments section below.