Genesis Trading prepares to return $3B to customers, transfers 32,256 BTC

• Genesis transferred $2.12B in BTC and $838M in ETH as part of bankruptcy restructuring.
• Genesis will return $3B to creditors, covering 77% of customer claims.
• Digital Currency Group will not receive any payout from Genesis’s bankruptcy plan.

Over the past three days, Genesis Trading has moved approximately 32,256 BTC, valued at around $2.12 billion, and 256,775 ETH, worth about $838 million, to various addresses.

This substantial transfer of assets is seen as part of the company’s efforts to manage creditor repayments under its ongoing financial restructuring plan.

Genesis Trading settlement plan has been approved

The turmoil for Genesis began in November 2022 with the collapse of the FTX crypto exchange, which severely impacted the firm’s derivatives business.

Genesis halted withdrawals and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in January 2023 due to substantial losses linked to the FTX debacle and the failure of Three Arrows Capital.

At that time, the company owed over $3.5 billion to its top creditors.

Amidst this challenging backdrop, Genesis has recently reached a court-approved settlement plan, aimed at returning $3 billion to its customers. This plan will cover approximately 77% of the total value of customer claims.

In the immediate aftermath of Genesis’s bankruptcy filing, claims were trading at only 35% of their value on claim trading platforms. However, current trading prices for claims are significantly higher, with claims over $10 million trading between 97-110% of their value and smaller claims trading between 74-94%.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) to miss out on this settlement

Digital Currency Group (DCG), the parent company of Genesis, will not benefit from this settlement. The court has ruled that there is insufficient value in Genesis’s estate to provide DCG any recovery as an equity holder.

This decision was influenced by DCG’s failed attempt to cap customer claims at January 2023 cryptocurrency values, which would have allowed for full repayment to customers and potentially a recovery for DCG.

Additionally, DCG had assumed $1.1 billion of Genesis’s debt from the Three Arrows Capital collapse, but this obligation did not cover the losses.