Crypto lender Nexo attempts to claw back $3 billion in damages from Bulgaria

• Nexo claims that Bulgaria's investigation damaged its reputation and quashed business opportunities. 
• Nexo has submitted its claim to the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes in Washington DC. 
• The country’s prosecutor office closed its money laundering investigation into Nexo in December 2023. 

Nexo is a crypto lender and a platform that facilitates purchase and sale of cryptocurrencies. In 2023, the firm was being investigated by Bulgaria’s prosecutor’s office for money laundering. 

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Nexo seeks $3 billion from Bulgaria for settlement of a dispute

Nexo and its subsidiaries have filed a $3 billion arbitration claim against Bulgaria. The crypto lender alleges that the country’s investigation into its firm caused damage to its reputation. The lender believes that the actions were politically motivated against the company and its executives and labels them as “oppressive criminal investigations.”

The country had cleared the lender of all wrongdoing in its investigation of alleged money laundering, as on December 21, 2023. While the criminal proceedings were terminated against the firm and its management, the company believes that the case foiled its chance to go public in the US.

The company seeks over $3 billion in damages and has submitted its claims to the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). 

The ICSID will handle the dispute between the two entities. The case was registered on January 18 and Bulgaria’s finance ministry said that it has received a request for arbitration. The request will be reviewed by a specialised inter-departmental committee and they will propose the next steps.