Crypto firm Nexo back in US after regulatory clashes caused exit

Crypto company Nexo said on Monday that it has relaunched operations in the United States, three years after withdrawing from the country following regulatory clashes that ended in a $45 million settlement with US authorities.

The digital asset platform, co-founded by former Bulgarian lawmaker Antoni Trenchev, exited the US market in late 2022 after regulators challenged its crypto lending products.

The Securities and Exchange Commission said Nexo’s Earn Interest Product should have been registered as a security, a claim the company neither admitted nor denied as part of the settlement reached in 2023.

At the time, Nexo said negotiations with state and federal regulators had reached a “dead end”, making it impossible to continue operating in the country.

New structure and partnership

Nexo said its return is being carried out through a partnership with Bakkt, a publicly listed crypto firm.

The company plans to offer crypto-backed loans and yield-generating products to US customers under a different structure from the one previously targeted by regulators.

“Nexo discontinued the product covered by the 2023 SEC order for US investors as required,” a spokesperson 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,” the spokesperson added.

Nexo said it now manages about $11 billion in assets and announced plans to re-enter the US market in April this year, citing what it described as improved regulatory clarity.

A changed regulatory backdrop

Nexo’s return comes amid a broader shift in the US crypto regulatory environment.

Since returning to the White House, Donald Trump has overseen a rollback of enforcement actions that had intensified under the previous administration.

The Securities and Exchange Commission has ended or scaled back several investigations into crypto firms, easing pressure on the industry.

Trump, once a vocal crypto sceptic, softened his stance during his campaign and has since promoted the sector as part of a broader push to attract digital asset businesses to the US.

Last year, Trump pardoned Changpeng Zhao, the founder of Binance, who had been sentenced to four months in prison in 2024 after pleading guilty to violating US money laundering laws.

Political ties draw scrutiny

Nexo’s leadership has had high-profile interactions with the Trump family, drawing attention as the company re-enters the US market.

Trenchev said he had lunch with Trump last July at the president’s Scottish golf resort, where Nexo was the lead sponsor of a golf championship.

The meeting covered politics and a “joint vision for crypto in the US,” according to a post by Trenchev on social media.

The company also hosted Donald Trump Jr. at a "Trump Business Vision 2025" event in Sofia last year in April.

Asked by Reuters about those ties, Nexo said its US relaunch was unrelated to political connections.

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," the spokesperson said.

The Trump family’s own crypto venture, World Liberty Financial, has drawn criticism from ethics experts, though the White House has said no conflict of interest exists.