A group of U.S. state regulators announced lawsuits against the crypto-lending platform Nexo.
California’s Department of Financial Protection and Innovation demanded that the lender cease providing services in the state. It characterized the platform’s interest-bearing crypto accounts as unregistered securities and ordered their services to cease.
As of July 31, 2022, more than 18,000 California residents have active accounts with flexible or fixed terms for earning interest. Collectively, they hold at least $174.8 million, assert in the department.
The New York Attorney General Letitia James announced the filing of a separate lawsuit against Nexo. According to her statement, the lender misled clients about having registrations and licences from regulators. The prosecutor intends to permanently bar the company’s activities in the state.
Cease-and-desist orders were also issued by regulators in Vermont, Washington, Maryland and Oklahoma, South Carolina and Kentucky.
Co-founder Antoni Trenchev told The Block that they are “pursuing a clear path to regulated provision of products and services in the United States, ideally at the federal level”.
In February, Nexo suspended interest payments to U.S. customers and announced a product restructuring with a subsequent registration with the SEC.
Earlier, crypto-lending platforms BlockFi, Gemini, Voyager Digital and Celsius Network faced regulatory actions.
BlockFi, as part of the settlement, paid $100 million in fines. Voyager and Celsius filed for bankruptcy.
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