Individual crypto businesses and their (cough) associates often Smell of Ouroboros about them. But the industry as a whole almost resembles the recent Spider-Man denunciation meme.
The latest example is when Gemini’s Cameron Winklevoss issued an “open letter” to fellow crypto baron Barry Silbert of the digital currency group, about $900 million from Gemini users. Owing to DCG Genesis A unit that stopped withdrawing last year.
The most incendiary bits aside from action-packed hand gestures about Gemini clients like “The single mother who lent you money for her son’s education” and “The father who lent you money for her son’s bar mitzvah.” was this (emphasis on FTAV below):
Any thoughts in your head that you can quietly hide in an ivory tower and all this will magically disappear, or that this is someone else’s problem, is pure illusion. , this mess is entirely of your own making. Digital Currency Group (DCG), of which you are the founder and CEO, owes Genesis (its wholly-owned subsidiary) approximately $1.675 billion. This is the money Genesis owes to his Earn users and other creditors. You’ve used this money, schoolteacher’s money, to facilitate greedy stock buybacks, illiquid venture investments, and kamikaze grayscale NAV deals that inflate the trust’s AUM that generate commissions. All for your own personal gain, all at the expense of your creditors. Now is the time for you to take responsibility for this and do the right thing.
Sound familiar?
Silbert, of course, didn’t miss the FTX hint and responded on Twitter within an hour.
DCG did not borrow $1.675 billion from Genesis
DCG has never defaulted on any interest payments to Genesis and all outstanding loans are up to date.His next loan maturity is May 2023
DCG submitted a proposal to Genesis and your advisors on December 29th, but have not received any response.
— Barry Silbert (@BarrySilbert) January 2, 2023
Silbert has already revealed that the DCG has borrowed $575 million from Genesis “In the ordinary course of business” and “always composed on an arm’s length basis and priced at prevailing market rates.”
This disagreement stems from the 2032 maturity 11 bonds issued by DCG to Genesis when the parent company had to assume debt related to the implosion of Three Arrows, a cryptocurrency “hedge fund”. It seems to depend on how you look at the billion dollar promissory note. For more on this topic, see Kadhim Shubber, Nikou Asgari, and Josh Oliverdelicate linkBetween different parts of the struggling DCG empire.
In related news, DCG’s flagship cryptographic product Grayscale Bitcoin Trust — Currently trading at a 45% discount to net asset value.In other words, its market value is
Unless you’re a Crypt Brothers directly affected by the prank, it’s all pretty terrifyingly funny.
