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| Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis files for bankruptcy |
Cryptocurrency lending company Genesis officially declared bankruptcy on Friday, in the latest blow to the markets following the bankruptcies of FTX and BlockFi late last year.
The bankruptcy announcement comes after the US Securities and Exchange Commission accused Genesis of illegally selling cryptocurrency.
On November 16, citing market turmoil caused by FTX's bankruptcy, the company froze repayments and new loans after an "abnormal" number of withdrawal requests exceeded existing liquidity.
Genesis was originally founded as a Bitcoin cryptocurrency trading platform where large amounts of Bitcoin could be traded. The company is part of the Cryptocurrency Group, a conglomerate of more than 200 digital currency exchange companies.
Genesis' bankruptcy filing is the latest blow to the cryptocurrency market, which has lost an estimated $1.3 trillion in value over the past year.
According to a bankruptcy filing, Genesis owes its 50 largest creditors approximately $3.4 billion.
Genesis has a major dispute with Gemini over the fate of $900 million in assets held by First by Genesis customers. The product, dubbed Gemini Earn, was being sold for investors to earn up to 7.4% interest on their cryptocurrency holdings.
Nearly 340,000 users have not been able to access their funds since November, when Genesis suspended payments due to volatility in the cryptocurrency market.
Last week, the Securities and Exchange Commission charged Genesis and Gemini with illegally selling crypto assets to investors.