Crypto company Nexo returns to US three years after clash with regulators

By Elizabeth Howcroft

PARIS, Feb 16 (Reuters) - 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 U.S. regulators over a crypto lending product, which the Securities and Exchange Commission said should have been registered as a security.

Nexo did not admit or deny the SEC's findings under the settlement.

Nexo said in a statement on Monday that it was returning to the U.S. in partnership with a listed crypto company, Bakkt BKKT.N, and will sell crypto-backed loans as well as yield-generating products to U.S. customers.

"Nexo discontinued the product covered by the 2023 SEC order for U.S. investors as required," a spokesperson for Nexo said.

"The current U.S. offering is structured differently and is delivered through appropriately licensed U.S. partners, including, where applicable, an SEC-registered investment adviser for advisory services," they added.

NEXO'S CONTACTS WITH THE TRUMP FAMILY

Trenchev had lunch with U.S. President Donald 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 U.S.", according to a post on X by Trenchev.

Once a crypto sceptic, 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 U.S. 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 U.S.," 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 Trump oversees U.S. crypto policy constitutes a conflict of interest. The White House has said that no conflict of interest exists.