The Nexo Group crypto lending platform is the target of several complaints in the United States. Eight US regulators from New York, South Carolina, Washington, Maryland, Vermont, Oklahoma, California and Kentucky have filed administrative lawsuits against the crypto giant. Regulators accuse him of failing to register accounts “Earn Interest Product”. Nexo is also suspected of hiding relevant information from investors, thereby distorting their investments.
US State Regulators File Administrative Appeal Against Nexo
In the United States, lawsuits against platforms suspected of infringement or fraud are frequent. Yesterday Monday, 8 regulators in the United States decided to attack Nexo, a platform of crypto loan. Concretely, the controllers accuse the platform of having voluntarily omitted to legalize the accounts Earning Interest Product. Nexo would have allowed its customers to hold interest-bearing accounts without registering them as securities. Worse still, investors did not have enough information to make the best investment decisions.
The allegations go further, as Nexo is also suspected of misrepresenting accounts. The company reportedly told investors that it was indeed a licensed and registered platform. The company thus offered remunerated accounts and investors only had to deposit cryptos. In return, they were entitled to capital gains of up to 36% on each deposit.
The crypto bear behind this unprecedented crackdown?
If state authorities are so strict, it is partly because of the bankruptcies that the crypto industry has been encountering for some time. This year, for example, the financial situation of some projects has left traders without any possibility of accessing their funds. The most recent example is that of the Celcius lending platform, which was obliged in view of its situation to file for bankruptcy. Subsequently, the company had to freeze the funds of its customers last June. In the aftermath, Voyager did the same by filing for bankruptcy, wiping out billions of dollars in the process.
Reading the lawsuit filed in the state of Vermont, the critics are pretty clear: “Investors are not involved in screening, monitoring, or reviewing the income-generating activities that defendants use to earn that interest.” “. According to this order, approximately 100,000 people would have deposited funds of nearly $800 million in Earn Interest Products.
Conclusion
Earlier this year, BlockFi found itself in a similar position. The crypto platform had then agreed to pay 100 million dollars to escape the meshes of the SEC. Faced with the accusations, the Nexo company logically claimed its innocence, acknowledging that: “Since the SEC’s guidance on interest accounts in February 2022, Nexo has voluntarily ceased onboarding new US customers for our interest account, as well as discontinuing the product for new balances for existing customers.” One thing is certain, a legal showdown is brewing between regulators and Nexo.
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