Lawyer O’Neal said Genesis had “some measure of confidence” it would resolve its disputes with creditors this week, following about two months of negotiations, and would seek mediation if necessary. — Bloomberg
NEW YORK: A lawyer for the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Genesis Global Capital said on Monday that it had some confidence it could resolve its disputes with creditors this week, with a goal of emerging from Chapter 11 by late May.
Sean O’Neal, the lawyer, spoke at an initial hearing in Manhattan bankruptcy court for Genesis Global Capital, the crypto lending business owned by Barry Silbert’s venture capital firm Digital Currency Group.
Genesis and two lending units filed for bankruptcy protection from creditors on Jan 19, two months after freezing customer withdrawals in the aftermath of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX exchange’s failure.
The filing followed the bankruptcies since last July of crypto lenders Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and BlockFi.
O’Neal said Genesis had “some measure of confidence” it would resolve its disputes with creditors this week, following about two months of negotiations, and would seek mediation if necessary.
“Sitting here right now, I don’t think we’re going to need a mediator,” he said. “I’m very much an optimist.”
Brian Rosen, a lawyer for creditors holding US$1.5bil (RM6.4bil) of claims, said “we are getting closer” to an accord.
US Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane granted a series of “first-day” motions by Genesis, including to pay employees and critical vendors, which are common in bankruptcy cases.
Citing customers’ privacy interests, Lane also said Genesis did not have to reveal customer names in its lists of creditors, and suggested it warn about possible phishing scams if their names were made public later. — Reuters
