Cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) has started to sell shares of its Grayscale cryptocurrency funds at a significant discount, according to U.S. securities filings cited in a Financial Times report on Tuesday.
See related article: Digital Currency Group’s crypto brokerage Genesis Global Capital files for bankruptcy
Fast facts
- DCG has reportedly begun offloading its investment vehicles run by its subsidiary Grayscale Investments, the operator of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust.
- SoftBank-backed DCG has been raising funds to support the bankruptcy of subsidiary Genesis Global Holdco and its lending unit, Genesis Global Capital.
- Genesis Global Holdco, Genesis Global Trading and Genesis Global Capital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on Jan. 20 after a months-long withdrawal freeze in its lending services that began in the aftermath of the collapse of Bahamas-based exchange FTX and Singapore-based hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. Genesis’ aggregated liabilities as of Jan. 20, were worth US$1 billion to US$10 billion to more than 100,000 creditors, according to its bankruptcy filings.
- In addition to Genesis and Grayscale, DCG owns the crypto-focused news outlet CoinDesk, digital asset mining and staking financing and advisory company Foundry Digital, and cryptocurrency company Luno.
- To raise funds for Genesis, DCG has begun selling shares in Grayscale. The asset manager oversees large pools of Bitcoin, Ether, and other cryptocurrencies where investors can buy shares.
- According to the Financial Times, DCG has mainly been offloading shares from Grayscale’s Ethereum fund, which has reportedly brought in as much as US$22 million since Jan. 24.
- The company is reportedly selling each share at a price of about US$8, a 50% discount for the US$16 Ether share.
See related article: DCG writes to shareholders to detail finances amid US$900 mln Twitter feud with Winklevoss