Winklevoss says crypto broker Genesis negotiating in bad faith

With his twin brother, Cameron Winklevoss launched the cryptocurrency exchange Gemini Trust Co. On Monday, he charged CEO Barry Silbert of Digital Currency Group (DCG) with "bad faith stall tactics" and demanded that he resolve $900 million in disputed client assets by January 8.

Together with DCG's cryptocurrency company Genesis, Gemini offers a loan service for cryptocurrencies dubbed Earn. Following the demise of major cryptocurrency exchange FTX, Genesis stopped accepting client withdrawals in November.

Winklevoss said that Genesis owed more than $900 million to 340,000 Earn investors and that he had been working with Silbert for the previous six weeks to find a "consensual settlement".

Winklevoss addressed an open letter to Silbert on Twitter, saying, "However, it is now becoming evident that you have been participating in bad faith delay tactics."

By January 8th, 2023, he said, "We are asking you to publicly commit to working together to address this issue." What would transpire if a deal could not be struck by January 8th was not stated in the letter.

Winklevoss said, "This disaster is all of your own doing," after stating that DCG owed Genesis $1.675 billion, which Genesis in turn owed to Earn users and other creditors.

In response, Silbert tweeted that DCG had not lent Genesis $1.675 billion.

Silbert said that DCG sent a proposal to the advisors for Genesis and Winklevoss on December 29 but did not get a response. "DCG has never missed an interest payment to Genesis and is current on all loans outstanding," Silbert added.

In a letter to customers dated December 7, Genesis said that it was trying to protect client funds and improve liquidity. It also stated that it would take "weeks rather than days" to establish a strategy.