Nexo (NEXO)

What Is Nexo (NEXO)?

Nexo is a blockchain-based lending platform that offers users instant cryptocurrency-backed loans. Users deposit an accepted token — such as Bitcoin (BTC), Ether (ETH), Litecoin (LTC) or XRP (XRP) — as collateral to receive a loan in the form of a fiat currency or stablecoin.

Nexo has a native token, NEXO, that when locked in the platform grants users benefits such as discounts on interest accumulated on loans and the opportunity to receive interest payments on funds deposited. Token holders also receive dividends from Nexo's profits.

The project was first announced in December 2017, and it launched in April 2018.

Who Are the Founders of Nexo?

Nexo was founded by Antoni Trenchev, Georgi Shulev and Kosta Kantchev as a project of European fintech firm Credissimo, where all three were employed. According to Trenchev, the three co-founders independently realized that there was no existing platform for cryptocurrency investors to borrow against the value of their assets — something that is often done in the world of traditional finance. They decided to use their collective experience with Credissimo, which provides non-crypto loans, to launch Nexo.

Prior to Nexo, Trenchev was chief innovation officer for Credissimo where he was responsible for fintech strategy in addition to Know Your Customer and Anti-Money Laundering solutions. He previously served as a member of parliament in Bulgaria's National Assembly from 2015 to 2017. Trenchev has acted as the public face of Nexo's leadership, conducting interviews and commenting on current events in the cryptosphere.

Shulev was previously in the banking sector. where he was responsible for mergers and acquisitions and financial analysis for entities including Lehman Brothers and the European Investment Bank. At Credissimo, he led business development and the firm's international expansion.

Kantchev co-founded Credissimo in 2007 and became responsible for developing its strategy.

What Makes Nexo Unique?

According to its whitepaper, Nexo is the first-ever provider of instant cryptocurrency-backed loans and it intends to solve inefficiencies in the lending market. Its automated lending process uses smart contracts and an oracle on the Ethereum blockchain to manage loans. After a user transfers cryptocurrency to a Nexo-controlled wallet, the oracle establishes the loan and the user is instantly allocated the funds. When the user makes a deposit in order to repay the loan, the oracle returns the cryptocurrency and records the transaction on the blockchain. Smart contracts are used to power NEXO and to record user balances.

Nexo is marketed to individual and institutional investors, cryptocurrency companies, exchanges, miners and others who want liquidity from their assets. The company makes a profit from the interest accumulated on loans, and it also offers institutional lending and consulting services.

Nexo seeks to build a user base of clients that continue to use the platform and remain invested in NEXO. As such, the company announced a loyalty program that rewards those who keep NEXO in their accounts, giving them preferential interest rates on loans and higher yields on savings. Nexo also distributes 30% of its profits to NEXO token holders in the form of dividends.

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How Many Nexo (NEXO) Coins Are There in Circulation?

Nexo has a fixed supply of 1 billion tokens. Of this amount, the supply was allocated in the following manner:

• 250 million NEXO (25%) for the company's overdraft funding reserves, subject to a 12-month vesting period with a six-month cliff;
• 112.5 million NEXO (11.25%) for the founders and team, subject to a 48-month quarterly vesting period;
• 60 million NEXO (6%) for community building and airdrop campaigns, subject to an 18-month quarterly vesting period;
• 52.5 million NEXO (5.25%) for advisors, legal costs and marketing, subject to a 12-month vesting period;
• 525 million NEXO (52.5%) for sale to investors.

While Nexo initially planned to have a public presale and main token sale, it later canceled its public sales due to an overwhelming amount of interest from investors in its private sale.

In October 2020, the company announced that it was launching a "Nexonomics" initiative to drive its tokenomics and increase the value of NEXO. The company subsequently revealed that it would buy back $12 million worth of NEXO.

How Is the Nexo Network Secured?

Nexo is a privately owned company and, as such, is responsible for the security of its networks and user funds. Nexo stores its digital assets with BitGo, a crypto-asset custodian that keeps tokens in cold storage wallets and is covered by a $100 million insurance policy. In November 2019, Nexo reported that it was ISO/IEC 27001:2013 certified after being audited by RINA and the Consortium for IT Software Quality.

Its native token, NEXO, is an ERC-20 token issued on the Ethereum blockchain, meaning that any on-chain NEXO transactions are validated and secured by the Ethereum mainnet using its Ethash proof-of-work consensus algorithm. Miners compete among each other to add new blocks to the blockchain, and a majority of all nodes in the network must validate a record for it to be posted.

Upon its launch, Nexo reported that its token had been "fully audited." In November 2019, the smart contracts were independently audited by Castillo Network, which found no critical security issues.

Where Can You Buy Nexo (NEXO)?

NEXO can be purchased on cryptocurrency exchanges such as Huobi Global, UPEX, Hoo and Bitrue, among others. It can be traded against fiat currencies such as the South Korean won and the Indian rupee, cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ether (ETH), and the stablecoin Tether (USDT).

Are you interested in buying NEXO or other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin? CoinMarketCap has a simple, step-by-step guide to teach you all about crypto and how to buy your first coins.