The Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office has dropped all the allegations against Nexo, a crypto lending platform, and its executives, saying there was no evidence of criminal activity. According to a report by the Bulgarian News Agency on Friday, Nexo has been cleared of money laundering charges by the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s Office.
The investigation, which started in January 2023, also accused Nexo and four of its executives – Kosta Kanchev, Antoni Trenchev, Kalin Metodiev, and Trayan Nikolov – of tax offenses, banking without a license, and computer fraud.
However, the prosecutors found no evidence of these crimes against the defendants or their products. They also concluded that Nexo’s products do not qualify as financial instruments. The prosecutors said they closed the investigation due to lack of evidence and did not find any political motive behind it.
Nexo co-founder Antoni Trechev welcomed the news and said it was a vindication for all good actors in crypto. He also said that it showed that the attack on the platform was political and should not have happened in the first place.
Nexo’s Compliance Challenges
Nexo is one of the leading crypto lending platforms in Europe and offers various products such as interest-bearing accounts, stablecoins, loans, and debit cards. It claims to have over 4 million users and over $15 billion in assets under management.
The platform has faced several challenges from regulators in different jurisdictions over its compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and know-your-customer (KYC) rules. It has also been involved in controversies regarding its lending rates and terms.
Nexo is not the only crypto company that has faced legal troubles recently. In November 2022, FTX, one of the largest crypto exchanges in the world, collapsed after losing billions of dollars due to a massive hack. Several other crypto firms also went bankrupt or shut down during the latter half of 2022 due to regulatory pressure or market volatility.
Related Reading | Nigeria’s Central Bank Lifts Crypto Ban: New Guidelines Unveiled