Mon 09 Jan 2023 ▪ 12:00 ▪
4
min read – from
Not a day goes by without the crypto universe being the subject of a new scandal. Recently, in fact, blockchain enthusiasts witnessed an accusation contest between two protagonists on Twitter. On the one hand, Winklevoss heads Gemini, a centralized cryptocurrency exchange. And on the other, Barry Silbert, managing director of Digital Currency Group (DCG). The first attacks his fellow entrepreneur in an open letter on Twitter, ordering him to publicly commit to resolving his situation.
Gemini CEO declares war on Barry Silbert
In a letter posted on Twitter, Cameron Winklevoss accuses Barry Silbert of “bad faith”. For good reason, the latter would not repay the $900 million in loans made to its digital asset brokerage subsidiary under the Gemini Earn program.
The Gemini Earn program offered 8% rewards to customers who lent their cryptocurrencies to borrowers. Therefore, among its many debtors is Genesis Global Capital, a subsidiary of DCG. Only the company went under the door after being wiped out by the collapse of FTX. To that end, Cameron Winklevoss said: “I write on behalf of over 340,000 paid users looking for answers”.
Similarly, Winklevoss still claims on Twitter that he tried to contact Silbert, especially on Christmas day. But he says he has met silence or stiff resistance from his lawyers and investment bankers. “Your behavior is not only completely unacceptable and inadmissible” Adds.
Silbert denies Gemini CEO’s claims
The latter adds that Genesis owes a total of 1.675 billion dollars to DCG, which Silbert would have used in various investments. Notably in greedy stock buybacks, illiquid venture capital investments, and Grayscale NAV kamikaze deals.
Conversely, Silbert said on Twitter that he contacted Gemini on Dec. 29 and received no response. He also clarified that DCG does not owe Genesis $1.675 billion and has never missed an interest payment, being up to date on all outstanding loan positions.
However, The Wall Street Journal reported on Nov. 22, 2022 that Silbert, in a letter to investors, said Genesis owed DCG $575 million. Additionally, those funds were reportedly repaid by May 2023, according to the Wall Street Journal.
Conclusion
After a failed investment in an FTX-related product, Barry Silbert had to suspend withdrawals, causing damage to nearly 340,000 users. Cameron Winklevoss, co-founder of Gemini, urged him to publicly commit to working together to resolve this issue by Jan. 8. However, Silbert’s aggressive stance is justified by growing investor pressure and pending future lawsuits.
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PhD student in financial law and expert SEO web editor, Cédrick Aimé is passionate about cryptocurrencies, trading, etc. He naturally participates thanks to his articles in the daily blockchain revolution for a better democratization of DeFi.