Nexo Review - A Crypto Banking Platform
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Nexo is the next-generation crypto banking platform that allows you to earn and get paid interest daily, collateralize your crypto and borrow instantly with their crypto credit lines.
8.5/10
Cost
8/10
Features
9/10
Ease of use
8.5/10
Services
8/10
Traditional finance has taught us that having a savings account with a bank is one of the surefire ways towards financial stability. Money that we could set aside over time and earn an average APY of 0.58% was said to be the key to wealth and stability. Institutions such as banks make money off the money they lend out given to them by the average person. Yet, the average person is only to be rewarded by receiving not even a hundredth of a percent of the profit the bank makes from that person's money.
This is where a platform like Nexo comes in. Nexo is the next-generation crypto banking platform that allows you to earn and get paid interest daily. It also allows you to take out to collateralize your crypto and borrow instantly with their crypto credit lines. Here, we look at the platform in our Nexo review.
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What is Nexo?
Nexo, founded in 2018 by Antoni Trenchev, Kosta Kantchev, and Georgi Shulev, has its headquarters in London and is available worldwide in 200+ jurisdictions. The company behind Nexo is Credissimo, which has a history of 12+ years as a lending platform in the European market.
Nexo’s vision is to pioneer a new digital financial system where all assets are tokenized on-chain, and people have a seamless, secure, and instant way of transferring money and managing funds.
Nexo is best for those who want their foot out the door in the crypto world and are interested in a platform that makes their bank account look like a thing of the past with easy passive income.
Get $5 in free Bitcoin for signing up
- Trade popular and trusted cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin among dozens of others
- Earn up to $35 worth of crypto with their Coinbase Learn video tutorials
- Extremely simple user interface
- Easy to take money out of investments - high liquidity
How does Nexo work?
To set up Nexo, just start on the main page and click “Create Account.” You are then brought to a sign-up page.
You are then required to verify your account through your email. You are set to go once you do that and click the link.
From there, you have everything you need to start right away. You can immediately start earning interest by clicking “Top Up” on the asset of your choosing, and then when you deposit, your credit line will be reflected by the asset as well.
How much does Nexo cost?
Nexo is a completely free-to-use platform. All of Nexo’s features – Nexo Earn, Nexo Borrow, and Nexo Card have zero fees to get started and no features hidden behind a paywall. Nexo has both a free, user-friendly desktop and mobile version.
Nexo features
Nexo Earn
Nexo Earn is the most significant feature of the Nexo platform that allows you to earn up to 16% APR on your crypto. But to meet this highest tier, you must become a Platinum Loyalty tier client by ensuring 10% or more of your portfolio balance is in NEXO tokens, opt to earn your interest in NEXO tokens for up to 2% additional interest, and create a one-month fixed term for an extra 1% interest.
It's important to note that tokens used as collateral for Nexo's instant crypto credit lines do not earn interest.
This earn account supports 30 crypto assets such as your typical Bitcoin, Ethereum, Litecoin, and others like XRP, BNB, and DOGE. It also supports stablecoins such as USDT, USDC, TUSD, and DAI. Nexo also allows earning on fiat currencies such as EUR, GBP, and USD.
Being paid daily interest and the ability to earn on fiat currencies are the biggest selling points of the Nexo platform that none of its competitors have been able to do. With Nexo, you can add or withdraw funds at any time. If you want to, you could deposit money in Nexo for a week, withdraw it, and earn daily interest for doing nothing except having the money in the account, which is pretty remarkable.
Nexo Borrow
Nexo prides itself on what it calls its instant crypto credit lines. These credit lines allow you to borrow cash or stablecoins at as low as 0% without selling your crypto assets. You can choose from 40 fiat currencies or borrow instantly using stablecoins like USDT or USDC.
For tax purposes, this is a massive benefit of using Nexo’s instant crypto credit lines because you can use the liquidity from your assets while still owning crypto and can set yourself up to be taxed on long-term capital gains over short-term capital gains while also having cash created from owning crypto assets.
Nexo is responsible for the first crypto-backed mortgage and uses the crypto credit lines to demonstrate how useful they can be for massive purchases such as buying a home or car or paying off college debt, among other things.
Nexo’s instant crypto credit lines are collateralized, so there needs to be crypto given to Nexo. Then, the Nexo loan-to-value ratio will determine the credit amount you can receive from the collateral. You can borrow as little as $50 to up to $2 million.
Nexo’s crypto credit lines are automatically approved and require zero credit checks.
Nexo Card
The Nexo Card is a free debit card that allows you to use your Nexo instant crypto credit line to pay merchants. The card is ordered through the mobile Nexo app and can be fully managed there. The card allows you to receive 2% crypto rewards on every purchase, and you can choose to receive it in NEXO tokens or Bitcoin (0.5% BTC), and it will be automatically placed back into your Nexo account.
The card also allows you to create free additional virtual cards for online payments. It has no monthly, annual, or foreign transaction fees either.
NEXO Pro
Offering institutional trading tools to individuals, NEXO Pro lets you connect to over 10 liquidity providers from a single platform and get the best possible price with a 50% discount when paying with NEXO. It also lets you conduct margin trades with up to 5x leverage, using the crypto in your portfolio as collateral.
Get $5 in free Bitcoin for signing up
- Trade popular and trusted cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin among dozens of others
- Earn up to $35 worth of crypto with their Coinbase Learn video tutorials
- Extremely simple user interface
- Easy to take money out of investments - high liquidity
Who should use Nexo?
Those who hate typical savings accounts
Nexo is paving the way for a new generation of banking savings accounts. Those who hate their current bank savings accounts and seek a better alternative can look towards Nexo. The fact that Nexo has the ability for you to earn up to 16% APR even on fiat currencies like USD and EUR means that combined with the ability to withdraw at any time, Nexo straight-up laughs all over at any banking account in the modern-day era.
Related: Best High-Yield Savings Accounts
Crypto beginners
Nexo does a great job of showing a person just getting into cryptocurrency or even one not in it at all a simple, quick, and free way to get your feet out the door in the crypto world. All someone has to do is transfer crypto into their Nexo accounts, and you are on your way to starting having your money working for you.
Related: A Beginner's Guide to Cryptocurrency
Crypto maximalists
Nexo is a perfect platform for crypto maximalists looking for ways to keep maximizing the number of crypto holdings in their portfolio. Those investing in crypto and holding for years should jump onto Nexo immediately to start gaining on their crypto assets.
Who shouldn’t use Nexo?
Hardcore Traders
It should be clear that Nexo is not a crypto exchange; it was created to be the next-generation crypto banking platform. This means users looking for quick gains and rapid market trading should look elsewhere. Nexo offering up to 16% APR on cryptocurrencies, stablecoins, and fiat currencies is no joke and is a remarkable rate to be paid out for a savings account. Still, for one that trades religiously, it might be best to find a platform elsewhere that is more catered towards their style.
Non-believers in digital finance
Chances are, if you are looking at a Nexo review, you have some interest in the new era of digital finance. However, for people who share no belief that digital finance is the future, a platform like Nexo may not be the right one for your investing needs. A more conservative investor may prefer investing their money in investment markets like the stock market or real estate.
Related: A Helpful Guide to Fintech Investing
Pros and cons
Pros
- Top-of-the-line security infrastructure. Nexo has best-in-class security. With Nexo, there is $375 million in coverage for your digital assets provided by crypto custodian BitGo. The private keys given to BitGo are held in bank-grade cold storage custody and have $100 million in insurance protection. Nexo’s heavy compliance with global KYC and AML standards shows its commitment to user security. Nexo provides users with 2FA authentication, biometric-based identity verification, withdrawal confirmations and log-in alerts, 24/7 support, and an extensive firewall server architecture.
- Interest is paid out daily. The ability for one to not only earn interest daily but be paid out the interest daily with rates of up to 16% APR is something only Nexo is doing. The ability to deposit and withdraw at any time makes Nexo undoubtedly a go-to even for those that do not have the means to lock up their money for months and can earn solid passive income in just over a couple of days.
- Very appealing desktop and mobile user interface. Just as important as having a good platform is having one that is very easy and attractive to use from a viewing standpoint, and Nexo is all of that. The Nexo desktop and mobile wallets have very few different screens to be on, with your most important information being instantly displayed to you the moment you log in. Your credit lines, current interest being earned, and portfolio balance are the first things you see at login, so there is no need to do any calculations yourself.
Cons
- Earning the superior benefits forces you to buy their token. While it is cool that you can earn benefits by having some holdings of the NEXO token, realistically, it is a gimmick made to give Nexo another way to profit. Buying the NEXO token has its risks because it is still its cryptocurrency which means by nature it is volatile, so if you have 10% of your holdings in NEXO just to get some extra APR, it is possible that if the NEXO token goes down, it could hurt your portfolio more than if you had not bought the token at all.
- Benefits are not available for U.S. residents. Nexo offers the ability to earn up to 16% APR if you choose to be paid out in NEXO tokens. Unfortunately, if you are in the U.S., the option to be paid out in NEXO is unavailable.
Get $5 in free Bitcoin for signing up
- Trade popular and trusted cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Dogecoin among dozens of others
- Earn up to $35 worth of crypto with their Coinbase Learn video tutorials
- Extremely simple user interface
- Easy to take money out of investments - high liquidity
FAQs
Who can use Nexo?
Nexo is available worldwide and to all 50 U.S states. All of Nexo’s services including the Nexo Earn, instant crypto credit lines, and buying and selling crypto are all available worldwide.
How is Nexo able to give out such high interest rates?
Nexo can give high interest rates by lending to institutions on an overcollateralized basis only and also through the interest earned from the instant crypto credit lines. The rates remain stable because of Nexo’s risk policy to never lend without collateral.
Are my assets secure on Nexo?
Nexo has $375 million in coverage for your digital assets provided by crypto custodian BitGo. There are numerous forms of user protection such as 2FA authentication, login and withdrawal alerts, 24/7 support, and biometric identification.
The bottom line
If you’re looking to get rid of your bank savings account, which barely makes you money, and are looking towards the next wave of finance, Nexo is a spectacular choice. Its very easy user interface and the ability to add and withdraw funds at any time, coupled with being paid out daily interest, makes Nexo the most seamless crypto banking platform. The Nexo card integration also further contributes to this.
It is not so pleasing that the NEXO token is used for so many extra benefits, and it is not easy for the average person to buy it. It is also a bummer for U.S. citizens who cannot earn on fiat currencies or get higher interest by earning in NEXO. With that being said, Nexo has top-of-the-line security and amazing features without a requirement for the token. If you want a great entry into the new age of banking, Nexo is that.
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Writer
Sabah Banse is a business major at University of Connecticut who is a cryptocurrency trader and brand ambassador to Blox.io.
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