Nexo Mulls Suing Bulgaria for $1 Billion, Says Co-Founder Antoni Trenchev

Gunnar Larson g at xny.io
Tue Jan 31 19:06:29 PST 2023


https://cryptopotato.com/nexo-mulls-suing-bulgaria-for-1-billion-says-co-founder-antoni-trenchev/


Nexo Mulls Suing Bulgaria for $1 Billion, Says Co-Founder Antoni Trenchev
Antoni Trenchev – Co-Founder of the cryptocurrency lending platform Nexo –
said the company could sue the Bulgarian government for more than $1
billion for raiding its offices and undermining its reputation.

He also refuted the rumors that members of the entity run an organized
criminal group, and commit money laundering and terrorist financing
operations.

‘We Will Defend our Interests’
The clash between Nexo and the Bulgarian authorities escalated after
Trenchev vowed to take the dispute to court:

“Our consultants estimate the damages at over $1 billion. We were in the
process of listing on the American stock exchange, and now it has to be
postponed because of the reputational damage that was done to us.” – he
explained.


Antoni Trenchev
Antoni Trenchev, Source: Dnes
The executive claimed the actions of the Bulgarian prosecutors to raid the
offices in the capital Sofia were “absurd, unnecessary, and a large part of
them – illegal.”

The Nexo scandal happened just a day before President Rumen Radev was about
to give the third and final mandate to form an acting government. Some
assumed Democratic Bulgaria (a center-right political party that pledged to
cope with corruption and enforce several judiciary reforms) had the best
chance of receiving the mandate.


However, it was revealed that more than a dozen Nexo employees had
previously made significant donations to the aforementioned party, which
might have affected the President’s decision. He eventually gave the
mandate to the Bulgarian Socialist Party (BSP).

Trenchev agreed with the assumption that raiding Nexo’s offices precisely
that day was an orchestrated PR move from the prosecution. He also admitted
knowing the leader of Democratic Bulgaria – Hristo Ivanov:

“I know Hristo Ivanov. I was part of public life in Bulgaria years ago. But
I don’t see how that’s relevant. We are a handful of people in Bulgaria.”

Nexo’s boss said people are free to make donations and sees nothing wrong
with those that gave away funds to Democratic Bulgaria since they have
publicly registered and reported everything to the Audit Office.

Despite the confrontation, Trenchev assured that the crypto lender still
has a solid base of five million customers and processes millions of
transactions every day.

Paying $45 Million to the US
Apart from its issues in Bulgaria, Nexo recently agreed to pay $45 million
in penalties to the US SEC and the NASAA over allegations that it offered
crypto lending products without complying with the necessary regulations.
Commenting was Gary Gensler – Chairman of the SEC:

“We charged Nexo with failing to register its retail crypto lending product
before offering it to the public, bypassing essential disclosure
requirements designed to protect investors. Compliance with our time-tested
public policies isn’t a choice.

Where crypto companies do not comply, we will continue to follow the facts
and the law to hold them accountable. In this case, among other actions,
Nexo is ceasing its unregistered lending product as to all U.S. investors.”

Nexo confirmed the fines, stating they are pleased to have engaged in a
“constructive dialogue” with the watchdog and settled all the issues.
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