Venture capital firm Digital Currency Group (DCG) and subsidiary crypto broker Genesis have been revealed as reportedly owing customers of crypto exchange Gemini $900 million.
Gemini, run by Tyler and Cameron Winklevoss, has Genesis as the main partner of its ‘Earn’ scheme, which sees retail investors lend out coins in exchange for a fixed stream of returns. Gemini paused the programme’s withdrawals last month amid the “unprecedented market turmoil” triggered by the FTX crash. According to the Financial Times, Gemini is attempting to recover funds after Genesis was ‘wrongfooted’ by FTX.
Last month, DCG chief exec Barry Silbert said that $575 million is owed directly by the company, which owns Genesis and cryptocurrency asset manager Grayscale, to Genesis' crypto lending arm.
The report notes that Gemini has now formed a creditors’ committee to recoup the funds from Genesis and DCG. Genesis meanwhile has hired investment banking firm Moelis & Co to explore all possible options as it scrambles to find cash.
DCG, which was valued at $10 billion last year by investors including Google and SoftBank, currently has $2 billion in outstanding debt. $1.7 billion of that total is owed to Genesis through two loans. Genesis itself lost $1.1 billion on a loan to hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, which collapsed in July.
Genesis last month said that it had 'no plans' to file for bankruptcy following the collapse of FTX, saying that the company "continues to have constructive conversations with creditors.”
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