Nexo crypto firm sent a position to BNT about the raid on its offices

Nexo sent a position paper specifically to BNT. They note that the raid is still ongoing and their employees are being detained. They have not yet been presented with any official documents that would clearly state a claim against Nexo.

Operation against crypto company Nexo in Sofia

The firm says that the raid was unnecessarily ostentatious and that the investigating officers refused to identify themselves and did not show a search warrant for hours.

Nexo says the videos of the violence against the company's employees will soon be shown. They claim that people have been detained without being named on warrants for their arrest. They say everything that has happened so far is in sharp violation of established legal and procedural norms.

First of all, they say that they do not operate on the Bulgarian market in order not to come under the fire of absurdity. They claim to be among the crypto companies with the highest standards in terms of "know-your-customer" and anti-money laundering measures.

Beyond the standard means of any financial institution, Nexo also used the services of companies like Chainalysis, which were used by the FBI and CIA among others. This allowed their specialists, who had undergone a special training in the US on anti-money laundering, to be sure of the origin of the crypto assets entering the platform, as well as to know where those withdrawn from the platform were going.

Over 15 addresses searched in connection with operation against cryptocurrency firm

This is full text of the company's position:

Nexo's position on the arbitrariness of the Bulgarian Prosecutor’s office

The battle for the "most shameful moment" of the Bulgarian prosecution has been mercilessly fierce for decades, but today it topped the rankings.

We have yet to be presented with official documents that clearly state claims against Nexo. It is compensated, however, by an unnecessarily ostentatious raid involving individuals, who refuse to identify themselves and have not shown a search warrant for hours. People have been detained without being named in warrants.

Everything that has happened so far is in stark contravention of established legal and procedural norms, demonstrating the total incompetence of those conducting this shameful raid and are unworthy of a state governed by the rule of law.

As always, the compensations that Bulgaria will pay after the cases filed and claims won by Nexo, will be another anti-record in the amount of hundreds of millions, but unfortunately will be at the expense of the Bulgarian taxpayer.

The facts:

Nexo does not offer its services on the territory of the Republic of Bulgaria precisely because we have always expected that it is possible to come under the fire of the absurd. The dimensions in which it can unfold, however, exceed even our wildest expectations.

Nexo is among the crypto-companies with the highest standards in terms of "know-your-customer" and anti-money laundering measures. Beyond the standard means of any financial institution, Nexo uses the services of companies like Chainalysis, which are used by the FBI and CIA, among others. This allows our specialists, who have undergone special US anti-money laundering training, to be sure about the origin of crypto assets entering the platform, and know where the ones withdrawn from the platform are going.

Following the outbreak of war in Ukraine and the sanctions that followed, Nexo undertook one of the strictest policies regarding sanctioned territories and individuals as a result of Russian aggression. Moreover, we were among the first to help in raising funds for the victims.

The briefing of the Prosecutor's office and the inconclusive response to the question whether or not this is an international operation, leaves no doubt that this is a local Bulgarian arbitrariness.

Conversations with regulators in other jurisdictions are opportunistically used in order to make the suggestion that this is more than a raid aimed at killing and looting the prosperous businesses. Historically, Nexo has always cooperated with reasonable and justified requests for information.

Nexo is the proud employer of over 600 people in this country and we are among the companies that paid tens of millions of leva in taxes and social security contributions, creating unique proprietary product and making the company the world's number one in its field.

We will take all actions allowed by law to protect our employees, as well as the company itself from this outrageous abuse.