What is Nexo?

Nexo is an online marketplace for cryptocurrency-backed loans. The platform offers bank accounts, cold wallets for cryptocurrency storage, consumer loans, and debit cards for online and in-store purchases.

NEXO is the native token that drives the Nexo cryptocurrency loaning platform. The underlying assets in Nexo's loan portfolio serve as the basis for backing NEXO tokens. Nexo's principal protocol feature is an online platform that allows users to make quick cryptocurrency-backed loans by depositing several major crypto assets into a Nexo wallet.

A brief history of Nexo

Nexo was founded in 2017 by Antoni Trenchev, Georgi Shulev, and Kosta Kantchev and is headquartered in London, England. The platform is powered by Credissimo, a European fintech company based in Bulgaria.

In April 2018, Nexo conducted a token sale that was supposed to have a public sale component in it. However, by the time its private pre-sale was finished, the participating investors in the pre-sale ended up receiving all the allocated tokens for the entire sale. Instead of lifting the hard limit and opening the sale to additional investors, the Nexo team elected to keep it at US$52.5 million. Participants in the public auction who had been whitelisted got 100 NEXO as compensation for their inability to participate in the sale.

In May 2018, following its token sale, Nexo formally launched its platform for instant crypto-backed loans. Through the Nexo Instant Crypto Credit Line, users may move assets to get a loan and withdraw cash promptly. Crypto assets are then returned to the borrower after the loan is repaid. Nexo, currently accessible in over 200 countries, supports loans for more than 40 fiat currencies and the use of 38 cryptocurrencies as collateral. The platform currently handles assets for over 4 million users in more than 200 jurisdictions.

In February 2021, Nexo launched its own exchange, which offers no-limits conversion between crypto and fiat currency pairs directly from the Nexo app. In December 2021, Nexo launched a non-fungible token (NFT) lending desk, which offers loans and takes on NFTs such as Bored Ape Yacht Club and Cryptopunks as collateral. In April 2022, Nexo launched its own card through Mastercard, which allows users to use their crypto as collateral for purchases made with global merchants.

How Nexo works

Nexo started as a platform that provides instant cryptocurrency-backed loans through an automated lending process that employs smart contracts and an oracle on the Ethereum blockchain to manage loans. This key feature, called an Instant Crypto Credit Lines, enables users to get a fiat loan by staking a range of supported cryptocurrencies in their Nexo Wallet as collateral. Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, Ripple, Stellar, Bitcoin Cash, EOS, and other cryptocurrencies can be used as collateral.

When a user sends cryptocurrency to a Nexo-controlled wallet, the oracle establishes the loan and instantaneously allocates the funds to the user. Whenever the user deposits to repay the loan, the oracle returns the cryptocurrency and records the transaction on the blockchain. Smart contracts are what power NEXO and record track of user balances.

Nexo's goal is to keep digital assets from sitting idle, especially in light of the rising popularity of cryptos. Liquidation of digital assets may be time consuming and inconvenient, which Nexo intends to alleviate with its instant cash access. The retention of ownership over digital assets, as permitted by Nexo, should provide their owners with more flexibility in dealing with their value appreciation/depreciation. With Nexo, credit checks are no longer required, and potential credit rating devaluation concerns with clients are non-existent. Finally, the Nexo platform's blockchain-based design aims to promote transparency and immutability of all loan-related arrangements.

What is Nexo used for?

Nexo's goal is to establish a user base of customers who continue to utilise the platform and invest in NEXO tokens. To achieve this, the platform created a loyalty programme that rewards customers who retain NEXO in their accounts with better loan interest rates and greater savings returns. Nexo also pays out 30% of its income in dividends to NEXO token holders.