Cameron Winklevoss Presents $1.5B ‘Final Offer’ In Genesis Debt Talks To Barry Silbert: ‘Your Games Are Over’
Cameron Winklevoss, the co-founder of the popular crypto exchange Gemini on Monday made a “final offer” to resolve the ongoing debt-restructuring talks concerning Genesis, a bankrupt digital-asset firm.
What Happened: Winklevoss took to Twitter to share his proposed plan, which includes $1.5 billion in forbearance payments and fresh loans.
Addressing Barry Silbert, the founder of Digital Currency Group (DCG) which owns Genesis and Grayscale, Winklevoss expressed frustration over delays in formulating a satisfactory repayment plan for Genesis creditors, including customers of Gemini’s Earn program.
Notably, DCG has also reportedly missed a payment of $630 million to Genesis, adding to the complications.
Winklevoss shared an “Open Letter to Barry Silbert” on Twitter, accompanied by a document titled “Best and Final Offer – July 3, 2023.”
The plan outlined in the document involves payments and loans worth $1.465 billion, denominated in dollars, Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), and Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH). The deadline for acceptance of the deal is set for 4 p.m. on July 6, as mentioned in the letter.
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Why It Matters: Expressing his dismay at the prolonged resolution process, Winklevoss stated that it had resulted in excessive professional fees exceeding $100 million, which has been borne by both creditors and Earn users.
“I write to inform you that your games are over,” Winklevoss wrote in the letter. “In addition to dragging out a resolution, they have ballooned professional fees to over $100 million, all of which have gone to lawyers and advisors at the expense of creditors and Earn users.”
He added that the consequences of failing to agree to the proposed deal within the given timeframe could potentially include lawsuits against DCG and Silbert personally.
Additionally, Winklevoss hinted at exploring options such as pushing DCG into default and pursuing a “non-consensual” debt-repayment plan.
Genesis, in a January court filing, had reported over $3 billion in claims from its top 50 creditors, with Earn users owed around $1.2 billion, according to Winklevoss.
The Winklevoss brothers set up the exchange back in 2015. Tyler Winklevoss currently serves as the CEO of the company, with Cameron Winklevoss serving as its president.
Gemini has been impacted by a series of events in the last year. In November 2022, the company halted withdrawals for its Earn product in collaboration with Genesis, after the collapse of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange. Eventually, the service was discontinued entirely and the process of returning funds to users is still ongoing.
The company also contributed $100 million in February to help Gemini Earn users recover their lost funds, but it is unclear whether the amount was allocated from personal or corporate funds.
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