The firm settled a lawsuit by the Securities and Exchange Commission and a number of state regulators by agreeing to a $45 million fine and to kill its crypto lending accounts.
Nexo announced that its exit from the U.S. crypto lending market will take place on April 1.
In January, Nexo settled a years-long inquiry by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and several states by agreeing to a $45 million fine and to stop offering its Earn Interest Product (EIP) in the U.S. market.
Nexo reached what it called a "no-admit-no-deny" settlement of charges that its Earn Interest Product was an unregistered security.
Nexo's other U.S. products and services, including an exchange, crypto spend debit card and digital wallet, are unaffected.
U.S. customers will continue to earn interest until that date. All fixed terms for which customers' crypto was locked in will expire on that date. It also asked customers to begin planning to withdraw their funds by that date.
Nexo added that customers "who have outstanding credit will be given ample time and notice to repay their loans and withdraw collateralized assets."
Unwilling to Talk
Nexo blamed the implosion of the FTX exchange on the heels of a string of bankruptcies by other crypto lenders like Celsius and Voyager Digital in what is alleged to be a massive fraud that may cost customers as much as $8 billion.
After that, "more than 18 months of good-faith dialogue with U.S. state and federal regulators [hit] a dead end," Nexo said on Jan. 19.
Since FTX, Nexo said at the time, "regulators are unwilling to coordinate with one another, and are insistent on taking positions that are inconsistent with one another, creating an impossible environment to operate efficiently and to create the expected value for our clients."
