Genesis meltdown: Inside a Once-$10 Billion Crypto Empire That’s Suddenly Cracking
Suspended withdrawals at cryptocurrency brokerage Genesis amid the widening crypto-market meltdown have cast an unwanted spotlight on Barry Silbert, the man at the helm of the Digital Currency Group empire.
Silbert, who rarely does press interviews or speaks at the multitude of industry conferences, founded the Stamford, Connecticut-based crypto conglomerate DCG in 2015, according to the 46-year-old's LinkedIn profile. Last year, DCG's valuation reached $10 billion, after it sold $700 million of stock in a private sale led by SoftBank Group Corp. DCG had 66 employees at the start of November and holds more than 200 companies in its portfolio.
DCG's reach is vast: in addition to embattled lender Genesis, it also controls digital-asset manager Grayscale Investments, which offers the world's largest crypto fund. DCG is also the parent of crypto-mining service provider Foundry Digital, news publication Coindesk and exchange Luno, among others. DCG declined a request for an interview with Silbert.
Within the crypto space, DCG's might is well-known. The private firm's portfolio has over the years included everything from exchanges like Coinbase to hardware-maker Ledger to crypto-focused bank Silvergate.
“They're a pretty big deal in crypto,” said Wilfred Daye, chief executive officer of Securitize Capital, a digital-asset management firm. “Their footprints are everywhere.”
With Genesis's halted redemptions, the health of DCG is called into question, a spiral that follows the shocking blowup of the Bahamas-based crypto exchange FTX and its former chief executive, Sam Bankman-Fried. Genesis was the crown jewel of Silbert's kingdom, having established itself as one of the largest and most well-known brokers, allowing funds and
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