What happened to Genesis Global?

Genesis Global was a large crypto lending and trading firm owned by Digital Currency Group (DCG). Its lending arm borrowed crypto from retail and institutional customers and lent it to trading firms. When FTX failed in November 2022, Genesis stopped withdrawals, and two months later it filed for bankruptcy. Creditors have since been repaid partly, while lawsuits against DCG continue.

What happened to Genesis Global in 2022?

The week after FTX filed for bankruptcy, Genesis Global Capital paused redemptions and new loans, citing the impact of the FTX news, CNBC reported on November 16, 2022. On January 19, 2023, Genesis and two affiliates filed for Chapter 11 in New York, according to the SEC. The wider pattern of lender failures that year is covered in crypto lending and borrowing.

How was Gemini Earn tied to Genesis?

Gemini Earn let customers of the Gemini exchange lend their crypto to Genesis for promised interest. The SEC says that when Genesis froze withdrawals it held about $900 million in crypto from 340,000 Earn investors. In March 2024 Genesis agreed to a $21 million penalty to settle SEC charges that Earn was an unregistered securities offering, without admitting or denying them, and the SEC said it would collect only after other creditors were paid. Gemini's side of the story is in what Gemini is.

The New York Attorney General sued Genesis, DCG, DCG chief executive Barry Silbert and former Genesis chief executive Soichiro Moro, alleging they hid more than $1.1 billion in losses from Earn investors. In May 2024 Genesis settled its part. It agreed to a victims' fund of up to $2 billion from remaining assets if creditors were not made whole, and to a ban on operating in New York. In April 2025 a judge let most of the claims against DCG, Silbert and Moro go forward, CoinDesk reported, and DCG said it would keep fighting.

How did the Genesis bankruptcy repay creditors?

Genesis said its plan took effect on August 2, 2024, and that distributions of about $4 billion in crypto and dollars had begun. It put the average initial recovery at about 64%. Recoveries differed by asset: about 51% for bitcoin creditors, 66% for ether, roughly 88% on average for most other altcoins, and 100% for dollar and stablecoin claims, paid in dollars. A $70 million fund was set aside to pursue claims against DCG and others.

What is the Genesis lawsuit against DCG?

In May 2025 Genesis filed two lawsuits against DCG and Silbert, one in Delaware's Chancery Court and one in federal bankruptcy court in New York, Decrypt reported. Genesis alleged that its parent ran it recklessly and pulled out value through transfers, and sought more than $3.1 billion, including a $1.1 billion promissory note DCG issued in 2022. DCG called the suits baseless and said it would defend itself. The sources reviewed for this guide report no final ruling in these cases. For what creditors of a failed platform generally face, see what happens if a crypto lender freezes withdrawals.