September 28 (SeeNews) - Bulgaria-founded, Switzerland-based digital assets platform Nexo said that it has acquired an undisclosed stake in US Hulett Bancorp (DBA Mode Eleven), the holding company of federally chartered Summit National Bank.
The transaction expands Nexo's US footprint and product offerings to retail and institutional clients, the crypto lender said in a press release on Tuesday.
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The financial details of the deal were not disclosed.
Nexo will be able to offer its clients bank accounts, asset-backed loans, card programmes as well as escrow and custodial solutions while leaning on Summit National Bank's federal-level lending and payments infrastructure.
Founded as Hulett National Bank in 1984 and based in Laurel, Montana, Hulett Bancorp is aiming to bolster the services of a nationally chartered bank, regulated by the US Office of the Comptroller of the Currency, by adding a fintech platform.
"This investment marks another landmark in Nexo’s relentless drive to better serve our US customers in compliance with the constantly evolving regulatory landscape,’ Kalin Metodiev, CFA, co-founder and managing partner of Nexo and recently appointed Summit National Bank board member, said.
Earlier this week, eight US states, including California and Vermont, have filed legal actions against a Cayman Islands-registered entity in the Nexo group in relation to its unregistered crypto interest-bearing accounts, according to documents published by the securities regulators of the two states.
The California Department of Financial Protection and Innovation (DFPI) argued in a statement that Nexo offered annual interest rates of up to 36% on investors’ deposited crypto assets, significantly higher than rates for short-term, investment-grade, fixed-income securities or bank savings accounts.