The legal tussle between bankrupt crypto exchange FTX and crypto lender Genesis seems to be coming to a resolution, a recent court filing reveals. According to the letter filed yesterday at the US bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York, both firms – who happened to have filed for bankruptcy – have agreed to settle their ongoing billion-dollar dispute.
How The Feud Began
FTX filed a motion in May this year to recover its funds from Genesis and “non-debtor affiliates” so the company could pay back its creditors. The motion went as far as describing Genesis (who attributed its solvency issues to FTX’s collapse) as “one of the main feeder funds and instrumental to its [FTX and Sister company Alameda Research] fraudulent business model.”
FTX further claimed that Genesis received “avoidable transfers” from FTX’s debtors totaling almost $3.9 billion. In response, Genesis denied owing FTX and filed a motion asking the bankruptcy judge to rule its debt to FTX as zero. However, a subsequent letter from FTX to the bankruptcy judge showed that the company had reduced its claim from $3.9 billion to $2 billion.
FTX’s claim could have delayed a creditor payout and slowed Genesis’ bankruptcy proceedings. However, with settlement in sight, things are likely to move along quickly, as according to the letter, FTX, its associated debtors, and debtors in its Chapter 11 bankruptcy case have reached a preliminary agreement.
The court filing reads:
The parties have reached an agreement in principle, subject to documentation, regarding a settlement that would resolve, among other things, the claims asserted by the FTX debtors against the debtors in these Chapter 11 Cases and the claims asserted by the Genesis debtors against the FTX debtors in the FTX Chapter 11 cases.
Genesis Still Not In The Clear
Despite reaching a settlement with FTX, crypto lending platform Genesis still has other lawsuits to deal with, including one filed by Gemini against its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), and its CEO, Barry Silbert. Gemini’s co-founder Cameron Winklevoss called out Barry Silbert on Twitter in an open letter, claiming that Silbert and DCG had engaged in “Fraudulent Behavior.”
He warned that Silbert’s failure to reply and come to the negotiation table by Friday would result in a lawsuit. In a follow-up tweet, Winklevoss also tabled a “best and final offer” involving a repayment plan.
Still, Silbert and DCG failed to reply, and true to his words, Winklevoss and Gemini filed a lawsuit against DCG and Silbert for fraud on July 7.