The lending unit of cryptocurrency company Genesis has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in New York.
Genesis owes creditors more than $3 billion and customers have been unable to withdraw funds since November. This week its parent company Digital Currency Group halted quarterly dividend payments to shareholders indefinitely as it attempts to preserve liquidity.
Among the $3bn, $900m is owed to customers of Gemini, the crypto exchange owned by twins Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, and €280m to Dutch exchange Bitvavo.
According to the filing, Genesis’ lending unit has assets and liabilities between $1 billion and $10bn, with more than 100,000 creditors.
Also filing for bankruptcy protection were Genesis Global Holdco, the parent group of Genesis Global Capital, and another lending unit Genesis Asia Pacific.
The former is willing to explore a sale and has $150 million in cash to support the restructuring.
Genesis’ derivatives and spot trading, broker dealer and custody businesses are not part of the bankruptcy process and will continue to trade.
Cameron Winklevoss recently called for Barry Silbert to be removed as CEO of DCG and, following the bankruptcy filing, tweeted: “Unless Barry and DCG come to their senses and make a fair offer to creditors, we will be filing a lawsuit against Barry and DCG imminently.”
Earlier this month, Genesis and Gemini were charged by the US Securities and Exchange Commission with illegally selling securities to investors through their jointly-issued Earn lending product.