NEXO

What is Nexo?

Nexo is a centralized crypto lending and earn platform launched in 2018 by Antoni Trenchev (also a Bulgarian member of parliament), Kosta Kantchev, and Kalin Metodiev. The company is headquartered in London and Sofia and serves users across Europe, the UK, MENA, Asia, and parts of Latin America. The pitch is simple: deposit crypto, earn yield, or borrow fiat against it without selling.

NEXO is the platform’s native token, capped at 1,000,000,000 supply and originally issued as ERC-20 before being bridged to several other chains. Holding NEXO unlocks loyalty tiers, lower borrow rates, higher Earn APY, and richer cashback on the Nexo Card. For a non-custodial alternative on the lending side, see our Aave page.

NEXO price today

NEXO trades on Bybit, Bitfinex, KuCoin, Gate, MEXC, and a long list of smaller venues. Notably, it is absent from Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken, the typical CeFi-token exclusion that hardened across 2023 and 2024 after FTX. Live data on this page comes from a multi-venue feed and refreshes every 60 seconds. The reference quote is volume-weighted across the most liquid order books. NEXO printed an all-time high near $4.75 in May 2021 during the first big CeFi cycle.

What actually moves NEXO on any given week:

• Nexo Earn AUM. The size of customer deposits on the platform sets revenue, and any sharp inflow or outflow (a yield product launch, a tier change, a rate cut) feeds the NEXO narrative.
• Dividend announcements. Nexo paid annual dividends to NEXO holders for years, and any change to the share-of-profits framework moves the token before fundamentals catch up.
• EU expansion and licensing. MiCA-related approvals, new banking partners, and the rollout of the Nexo Card and Nexo Prime in fresh jurisdictions tend to push NEXO higher.
• US-exit aftermath. The wind-down of US operations and the SEC settlement still shape sentiment. Any new enforcement headline against a CeFi peer gets priced into NEXO immediately.
• BTC correlation. NEXO is a high-beta CeFi proxy, so it tracks Bitcoin and the wider centralized-finance basket more than DeFi tokens like AAVE or COMP.

The numbers in the price card above are live. For multi-year scenarios, see our NEXO price forecast.

Nexo Earn, Loans, and the Card

The Nexo product stack splits into three pillars. Crypto Earn pays yield on deposited assets. Crypto Loans let users post crypto as collateral and draw a fiat or stablecoin credit line against it. The Nexo Card sits on top of both, turning idle balances into a payment instrument.

• Crypto Earn. Yield on BTC, ETH, USDT, USDC, and a wider list of assets, with rates that scale by loyalty tier and by lock-up. Flexible terms pay less, fixed terms pay more, and stablecoin rates usually beat what a regulated bank offers in the same currency.
• Crypto Loans. Instant credit lines using crypto collateral, with no credit check and no monthly repayment schedule. The user posts BTC, ETH, or another supported asset, draws up to a set loan-to-value, and pays interest until the loan is closed. Loans denominated in NEXO get a discounted rate.
• Nexo Card. A dual-mode credit and debit card on the Mastercard network, launched in Europe in 2022 and rolled out across more markets since. In credit mode, spending pulls against a crypto-backed credit line so the underlying assets keep earning. Cashback runs up to 2% in NEXO or BTC depending on tier.

The trade-off is custodial. Nexo holds the assets that back Earn and Loans, which is what allows the platform to issue an instant card and a credit line without forcing the user through a self-custody flow. That same design is what every CeFi failure of 2022 had in common.

NEXO Token utility and loyalty tiers

NEXO is a utility token wired into nearly every product. The platform tracks the share of NEXO in a user’s portfolio and assigns one of four loyalty tiers: Base, Silver, Gold, Platinum. Higher tiers unlock better terms across the stack.

• Earn APY. Stablecoin and crypto yield rates climb meaningfully from Base to Platinum. The gap can be several percentage points on USDT and USDC, which is the main reason holders accumulate NEXO in the first place.
• Borrow rates. Loan APRs drop as the tier rises, and paying interest in NEXO knocks another notch off the rate. Heavy borrowers usually keep enough NEXO to sit at Gold or Platinum just for the rate discount.
• Card cashback. The 2% cashback figure is Platinum-only. Lower tiers get a smaller share, and the choice between NEXO and BTC payouts changes the long-run return profile.
• Withdrawal allowance. Each tier comes with a free monthly withdrawal quota; above it, network and processing fees apply. This is a small lever that still nudges users toward higher tiers.

The honest read is that NEXO’s utility is the platform itself. Outside the Nexo ecosystem, the token has thin DeFi integration and limited on-chain demand, so the value case rests on Nexo’s book of business and on the loyalty mechanics that keep users from rotating out.

NEXO dividends: how the share-of-profits worked

For several years, Nexo distributed a portion of company profits to NEXO holders as an annual dividend, paid in NEXO or USDT. That made NEXO one of the few "real-yield" tokens in CeFi, and the framework was a major part of the early bull case.

• Eligibility. Holders had to keep NEXO on the platform during a snapshot window, hold a minimum balance, and clear a minimum holding period. The exact thresholds tightened over time as the program matured.
• Funding source. The dividend was funded out of audited company profits, not from new token emissions, which was the structural difference between NEXO’s payout and the typical staking-yield token.
• Pause and restructure. The dividend program was paused or restructured in 2024-2025 as the company shifted toward buyback-style mechanics and a redesigned loyalty framework. Verify the current policy on the Nexo site before relying on a payout assumption.

The trade-off is that any company-funded dividend depends on the company. If revenue compresses, the payout shrinks; if regulators force a change, the program changes with it. That is the structural difference between a NEXO dividend and an on-chain protocol fee split.

The 2022-2023 US exit and SEC settlement

The hardest stretch of Nexo’s history is the US chapter. In December 2022, Nexo announced a voluntary wind-down of its US operations after a coordinated set of state actions, including New York and others, targeted the Earn Interest Product as an unregistered security. In January 2023, the company reached a $45 million settlement with the SEC and a parallel state set, again over Earn.

• What changed. US users lost access to Earn during the wind-down. The platform kept other products available globally, and Nexo doubled down on EU, UK, and MENA expansion to offset the lost market.
• What did not change. Nexo did not freeze withdrawals during the 2022 CeFi crisis, did not file for bankruptcy, and did not have a Celsius-style or BlockFi-style collapse. That distinction matters for any honest comparison.
• What still hangs over the token. Regulatory exposure for CeFi platforms has not gone away. New enforcement actions, MiCA implementation details, and any future US re-engagement (or lack of it) keep weighing on NEXO sentiment.

Nexo has expanded its EU and MENA footprint since 2023, secured EU MiCA-related licensing, and launched Nexo Prime as an institutional-facing product line. The investment case now leans on those non-US growth lanes rather than a return to the American retail market.

How to buy Nexo (NEXO)

NEXO is more limited in venue selection than top DeFi tokens because the major US exchanges do not list it. The buy flow has to account for that.

1. Pick a venue that lists NEXO. Bybit, Bitfinex, KuCoin, Gate, and MEXC carry the deepest books. Our exchange ratings compare the leading platforms on fees, security, and supported regions.
2. Or buy on a DEX. NEXO is bridged to multiple chains, so a wallet holding ETH or a stablecoin can swap into NEXO on Uniswap or another DEX. Confirm the contract address from the official Nexo site before trading to avoid scam tokens.
3. Verify identity if you went the centralized route. Regulated exchanges ask for a government ID and a selfie. KYC usually clears within 10 minutes for retail amounts.
4. Fund the account. Bank transfers (SEPA, Faster Payments) are the cheapest option but take 1-3 business days. Cards are instant and pricey. Stablecoin deposits settle in minutes once the network confirms.
5. Decide where the NEXO lives. Holdings on a self-custody hardware wallet (Ledger, Trezor) protect against exchange failure, but they sit outside the Nexo platform and earn nothing. Holdings inside Nexo qualify for tier benefits and historical dividends but carry custodial risk. Pick the split that matches your view of the company.

For another collateral-backed asset that often turns up alongside Nexo Loans, see our

DAI page. The common mistake is to treat platform balances as wallet balances. They are not. Custody matters.

Risks of holding Nexo

NEXO carries the specific risk profile of a CeFi platform token: counterparty exposure to Nexo itself, the absence of US-tier exchange listings, and ongoing regulatory pressure on the CeFi business model after the 2022 wave of failures.

• Platform risk. Nexo is custodial. Earn balances, Loan collateral, and Card-linked assets all sit on Nexo’s books. If the company hits a liquidity squeeze or a serious operational issue, on-platform balances are exposed in a way that on-chain holdings are not.
• Listing absence. The fact that Binance, Coinbase, and Kraken do not list NEXO caps liquidity, narrows the spot-buyer base, and limits institutional flow. Any future delisting from a current major venue would tighten that further.
• Regulatory exposure. The 2023 SEC settlement closed one chapter, but CeFi lending remains a regulator focus globally. MiCA implementation, UK FCA rules, and any new US action against a peer get priced into NEXO directly.
• Dividend uncertainty. The historical dividend program was paused or restructured, and any future payout depends on company profits and on regulatory tolerance for that structure. The yield assumption that powered the early bull case is no longer guaranteed.
• Token concentration. A meaningful share of NEXO supply is held by the company, by team members, and by long-term Platinum users. That concentration is what funds loyalty incentives and dividends, but it also means a small group of holders can move the float.
• Smart-contract risk on bridges. NEXO has been bridged to several chains. Each bridge adds smart-contract surface area, and bridge exploits have been a recurring theme across crypto.
• Custody. NEXO held on an exchange or inside the Nexo platform itself depends on the operator’s solvency. Long-term holdings belong in self-custody under your own keys.

This page is information, not financial advice. Talk to a licensed advisor before allocating real capital.