Genesis Bankruptcy Jitters Send Bitcoin to Fresh Low

The troubled crypto brokerage is in talks with potential investors for at least $1 billion in fresh capital, according to a Bloomberg report.

AccessTimeIconNov 22, 2022 at 12:33 a.m. UTC
Updated May 9, 2023 at 4:03 a.m. UTC
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Days after its lending unit was forced to halt withdrawals in wake of the collapse of crypto exchange FTX, Genesis Global Trading has mentioned bankruptcy as a potential option as it seeks fresh capital, reports Bloomberg citing people with knowledge of the matter.

The Wall Street Journal, also citing people familiar, reported that Genesis sought funding from Binance and Apollo Global Management, and that Binance declined to invest, citing potential conflicts of interest.

The initial news sent bitcoin (BTC) to fresh two-year low of $15,480. But the price has fully recovered back to where it was before the Bloomberg story came out, trading around $15,913 as of this update.

"We have no plans to file bankruptcy imminently," a Genesis representative told Bloomberg. "Our goal is to resolve the current situation consensually without the need for any bankruptcy filing. Genesis continues to have constructive conversations with creditors."

Genesis and CoinDesk share the same parent company, Digital Currency Group.

UPDATE (Nov. 21, 2022, 23:01 UTC): Updates with the latest bitcoin price.

UPDATE (Nov. 22, 2022, 00:32 UTC): Updates with WSJ report that Genesis sought funding from Binance and Apollo Global Management, and that Binance declined to invest, citing potential conflicts of interest.


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Stephen  Alpher

Stephen Alpher is CoinDesk's managing editor for Markets. He holds BTC above CoinDesk’s disclosure threshold of $1,000.


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