1: bulgarian prosecutors are investigating crypto lender nexo for fraud. hundreds of thousands of dollars have been withdrawn from nexo, which is based in the uk and is one of decrypt’s 22 investors. blockchain analytics firms have reported the withdrawals, and nexo is cooperating with the relevant authorities and regulators. large transactions of over $100,000 in stablecoins have been withdrawn.
2: in june, celsius paused withdrawals due to “extreme market conditions” and eventually collapsed. new york’s attorney general sued ex-celsius boss alex mashinsky for defrauding investors. blockfi halted withdrawals in november and went bankrupt shortly after. exchanges have seen a surge of withdrawals recently, including huobi’s majority shareholder, justin sun, who had to replenish the platform with liquidity after tens of millions of dollars in crypto left the singapore-based exchange. binance experienced over $3.6 billion in withdrawals in one week in december.
3: nexo announced they would be phasing out u.s. products and services due to hitting a “dead end” with regulators. crypto lending platforms have been affected by recent market conditions. mismanagement of customer funds and risky bets by ftx’s sister company, alameda research, allegedly led to the downfall of the exchange, for which its ceo sam bankman-fried is facing eight criminal charges. all of these events have led to a heightened sense of risk in the crypto lending industry, which is likely why nexo is being investigated.
https://decrypt.co/119066/nexo-withdrawals-office-raid-money-laundering-investigation
