PARIS — Crypto company Nexo has relaunched in the United States, it said on Monday, three years after leaving the country and paying a $45-million fine following clashes with regulators.
Co-founded by former Bulgarian lawmaker Antoni Trenchev, Nexo paid the fine to settle charges brought by US regulators over a crypto lending product, which the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) said should have been registered as a security.
Nexo did not admit or deny the SEC’s findings under the settlement.
In a statement on Monday, Nexo said it was returning to the US in partnership with a listed crypto company, Bakkt, and will sell crypto-backed loans as well as yield-generating products to US customers.
“Nexo discontinued the product covered by the 2023 SEC order for US investors as required,” a spokesperson for the company said.
“The current US offering is structured differently and is delivered through appropriately licensed US partners, including, where applicable, an SEC-registered investment adviser for advisory services,” they added.
A spokesperson for the SEC declined to comment.
NEXO’S CONTACTS WITH THE TRUMP FAMILY
Mr. Trenchev had lunch with US President Donald J. Trump in July at his Scottish golf resort, where Nexo was the lead sponsor of a golf championship. There, they discussed politics and their “joint vision for crypto in the US,” according to a post on X by Mr. Trenchev.
Once a crypto skeptic, Mr. Trump reversed his stance before returning to the White House. Soon after he took office last year, the SEC ended a years-long crackdown on crypto companies.
Nexo hosted Donald Trump, Jr., the president’s eldest son, at a “Trump Business Vision 2025” event in the Bulgarian capital, Sofia, last April.
Responding to a question from Reuters about those contacts, the Nexo spokesperson said the company’s return to the US was “based on our ability to offer products in a compliant structure” and was not related to its interactions with the Trump family.
“Our sports partnerships and event participation are not connected to our regulatory or operational status in the US,” Nexo’s spokesperson said.
The Trump Organization family business has seen a sharp increase in income after delving into crypto with its own company, World Liberty Financial.
Some government and ethics experts have said the family’s development of crypto initiatives as Mr. Trump oversees US crypto policy constitutes a conflict of interest. The White House has said that no conflict of interest exists. — Reuters
