Police Raids Nexo Offices in Bulgaria | Another Crackdown on Crypto

Regulators are taking aggressive actions against

 crypto firms all around the world. Nexo, a crypto lending platform that is based on blockchain technology, is facing police raids in Bulgaria for facilitating money laundering and bypassing international sanctions on Russia. 

The last few months have not been so great for Nexo as it had to wind up its operations in the USA after the California Department of Financial Protection & Innovation filed a desist and refrain order against Nexo. The order came against its interest services after Nexo could not align with the regulatory terms, eventually forced to leave the country. 

Nexo’s office in Sofia, Bulgaria was allegedly raided by police and foreign agents of international regulatory authorities in the search for traces of a large-scale criminal scheme involving money laundering. As per the trusted sources, the investigative authorities were looking out for a connection between Nexo’s cryptocurrency operations and money laundering activities in the country.

Nexo was accused of violating international sanctions against Russia even after an explicit warning from the USA. In the rise of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, the USA clearly warned any states or actors assisting Russia in bypassing the sanctions by saying, ‘We will come and we will find you’. The same thing is likely to be happening with Nexo where the regulatory authorities who are more likely to be controlled by the USA raided the Nexo offices. 

In its defense, Nexo tweeted about its incident calling out the actions as ‘bordering with racketeering’, hoping that ‘this too shall pass’. Nexo tweeted, 

“Unfortunately, with the recent regulatory crackdown on crypto, some regulators have recently adopted the kick first, ask questions later approach. In corrupt countries, it is bordering with racketeering, but that too shall pass.”

Nexo told its audience how it has always prioritized regulations and KYC policies, even facing financial losses due to this. However, Nexo never compromised on compliance and ensure that its expert team maintain a real-time picture of clients. 

Nexo ended its Twitter thread by saying that they are cooperating with regulatory authorities and users should expect some exciting news in the coming weeks.