Nexo Eyes SEC Broker Dealer License While U.S. Competitors Face Regulatory Pressure

Taylor Scott

Last Updated: September 23, 2021 9:09 pm

3 mins read

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There’s truly never a dull moment in DeFi. Reports have emerged this week that interest-yielding platform Nexo is pursuing an acquisition of an SEC licensed broker dealer with the intent to offer a “modified version” of the company’s products. How this would impact their current offering is unclear.

The move comes at a time of seemingly increased rocky roads for DeFi platforms.

Interest-Generating Products & Disruptive DeFi

Along with the company’s pursuit of a licensed broker dealer, Nexo is also in talks with nationally chartered banks. The platform is reportedly interested in finding a chartered bank partner that will sell Nexo products, likely with the intent to have better buy-in with U.S. regulators.

Additionally, reports state that the platform is looking at applying for an exemption to offer securities to non-accredited investors. Nexo is a London-based platform, which may play out to be a substantial advantage versus competitors that are stateside.

In recent weeks, U.S. state regulators have started to focus on DeFi platforms that are U.S.-based, namely Celsius and BlockFi. Regulators in a handful of states in the U.S. have begun issuing cease and desist demands for both firms. Meanwhile, major U.S.-based exchange Coinbase has been in a back-and-forth with SEC with regards to the exchange’s potential interest-yielding product, Coinbase Lend. Coinbase seems to have now placed an indefinite hold on a timetable for Lend, should the product even come to life at all.

Nexo is likely taking a close eye to see how these situations play out in the coming months, so they can position themselves accordingly when stateside regulators start eyeing non-U.S. based interest yielding firms that are operating in the states.

Native platform tokens, like $NEXO, have stayed away from U.S. integration as regulatory decisions still leave outcomes in question. | Source: NEXO-USD on TradingView.com

The Road Less Traveled

During the midst of the DeFi madness with regulators, Nexo has still been building on it’s capabilities and offerings. In an email this week, the firm announced the addition of top-ups, withdrawals, and borrowing and earning with DOGE. At the beginning of September, the platform crossed 2M users. And last month, the platform introduced free and instant transfers from one Nexo wallet to another, as well as unlimited free internal withdrawals.

Nonetheless, Nexo co-founder Antoni Trenchev has said that overseas exchanges will have to “cross the same bridge” that Celsius and BlockFi are currently having to cross, in due time. “We haven’t quite decided on the particular variations of the exemptions and exactly how we’re going to structure this,” added Trenchev.

Will Nexo have the advantage of seeing how things play out for U.S. based firms, or will overseas platforms be subject to increased scrutiny? Consumers are left waiting for the snail-paced regulatory movement to determine how things play out.

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