Cryptocurrency lending company Nexo Financial denies allegations of offering unregistered services to New Yorkers brought by Attorney General Letitia James.
Attorney General James ordered two unidentified cryptocurrency lending companies to halt operations on Monday, citing that the business was not registered in New York and that they carried out illegal activities.
Cryptocurrency lender Nexo is revealed to be one of two companies to receive the cease and desist order from the Attorney General’s Office. Denying its involvement in illegal operations, a Nexo spokesperson said:
“Nexo does not offer its Earn and Exchange product in New York, so it makes little sense to receive a cease-and-desist order for something that we are not offering in New York anyway.”
According to Nexo, the accusations of operating an unregistered business in New York “appears to be a case of confusion of the recipients of the letter”. The company also confirmed the use of IP-based geoblocking on its platform that prevents New Yorkers from participating in services not registered locally:
“Still, we will engage with NY AG and seek clarity. Our firm has top-notch legal counsel from both US-based law firms and our in-house legal team. “
In addition, the company has also highlighted that the Nexo Terms and Conditions explicitly say: “We do not offer our Earn and Exchange product in New York.”
To further protect New Yorkers from significant undisclosed risks, the New York State Attorney General’s Office has concurrently ordered three other cryptocurrency platforms to provide information about their activities and products.
The ceasefire order is backed by the Martin Act, which requires companies to register before offering or selling securities or commodities in New York. “My office is responsible for ensuring that industry players do not take advantage of unsuspecting investors.”James said.
A group of local New York businesses jointly signed a letter asking New York State Governor Kathy Hochul to deny permits to reuse the city’s defunct fossil fuel power plants for cryptocurrency mining.
The proposal calls for an environmental impact assessment of restarting the Greenidge generating station and Fortistar North Tonawanda plants, which were closed to control New York’s greenhouse gas emissions.
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