Nexo Review

Nexo Review: The Surviving Crypto Lending Platform

Nexo is a Bulgarian-founded crypto lending and financial services platform that survived the 2022 crypto downturn — unlike competitors BlockFi, Celsius, and Voyager. Founded in 2017, Nexo offers interest on crypto deposits, crypto-backed loans, an exchange, and the Nexo Card.

Background

Nexo was founded in 2017 by Antoni Trenchev, Kalin Metodiev, and Georgi Shulev. The company is incorporated in the Cayman Islands with offices in Zug, Switzerland and London. Unlike BlockFi and Celsius, Nexo survived the 2022 crisis — though not without controversy (see below).

Key Features

Nexo Earn: Earn interest on crypto and stablecoins. Rates vary based on the asset and your NEXO token holdings:

• Up to 16% APY on stablecoins
• Up to 8% on Bitcoin and Ethereum
• Higher rates for NEXO token holders (Platinum tier)

Nexo Credit: Borrow against your crypto (BTC, ETH, and others) at competitive rates without selling your assets. Loan-to-Value (LTV) ratios from 13.6–90%.

Nexo Exchange: Spot exchange for 500+ asset pairs, integrated into the platform.

Nexo Card: Visa card (discussed in separate Nexo Card review) with crypto cashback.

NEXO Token

The NEXO token is central to the platform's tier system:

• Base, Silver, Gold, Platinum tiers based on NEXO/total portfolio ratio
• Higher tiers = higher interest rates and lower loan rates

Security and Regulation

• Custodian: Ledger Enterprise, BitGo, and own custody
• SOC 2 Type II certified
• Licensed and regulated in multiple EU jurisdictions
• $775M insurance on custodied assets (via Lloyd's of London and others)
• Proof-of-reserves (Armanino audits)

2022 Controversy

Despite surviving the crash, Nexo:

• Shut down operations in the US following a settlement with US state regulators ($45M fine, December 2022)
• Faced accusations from Bulgarian prosecutors (cryptocurrency fraud investigation, 2023) — Nexo denied wrongdoing; no charges filed as of 2024

Verdict

Nexo is one of the more established centralised lending platforms, having survived 2022 with user funds intact. It offers genuine utility for crypto holders who want yield or loans. However, centralised yield always carries counterparty risk — only deposit what you can afford to lose, and monitor platform health.

• Survived 2022 crypto downturn
• Competitive yield rates (NEXO holders)
• Crypto-backed loans
• Insurance on custodied assets

• No longer available in US
• NEXO token holding required for best rates
• Centralised counterparty risk