Coindesk May Be Sold as Parent Company DCG Struggles

According to recent reports, the cryptocurrency news website CoinDesk is mulling over the possibility of being sold as its parent company, Digital Currency Group (DCG), wants to improve its financial standing.

The Wall Street Journal reports that CoinDesk has enlisted the assistance of investment bankers from the financial advising firm Lazard. These investment bankers are assisting the company in weighing its alternatives, which may include a whole or partial sale.

You know, I recently became aware that Coindesk is now available for purchase.

Charles Hoskinson, who tweets under the handle @IOHK Charles 19th of January, 2023 In the past few months, it has been reported that DCG has received multiple offers for the media company that are higher than $200 million. If these reports are accurate, this would represent an incredible return on investment for DCG given that the company was reportedly purchased by DCG for only $500,000 in 2016.

It would seem that Barry Silbert’s DCG is experiencing significant financial difficulties as of late. On January 17, the company informed its shareholders that it will be suspending dividend payments in an attempt to improve the soundness of its balance sheet and “preserve liquidity.”

On January 18, Bloomberg reported that another DCG subsidiary, crypto lending business Genesis Global, was intending to file for bankruptcy after it revealed that it owed creditors over $3 billion. This is undoubtedly the primary cause contributing to DCG’s current financial predicament.

According to the company’s website, DCG’s venture capital portfolio includes about 200 crypto-related startups, some of which include CoinDesk and Genesis.

The asset management company Grayscale Investments, the cryptocurrency exchange Luno, and the advising firm Foundry are all other businesses that are owned by DCG.

Some people believe that the article published by CoinDesk in November that revealed the irregularities in Alameda Research’s balance sheet was the first domino that eventually led to the collapse of the cryptocurrency exchange FTX as well as the liquidity issues that Genesis, its parent company DCG, and the broader cryptocurrency market are currently facing.

Former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to Appear in court remotely

A request has been made by representatives for Voyager Digital’s unsecured creditors to have the former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), as well as numerous top-level officials from FTX and Alameda Research deliver papers and appear in court remotely for a deposition the next week.

According to a document that was filed on February 18 in the United States Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, it was indicated that a “Subpoena to Testify at a Deposition in a Bankruptcy Case” had been served on Bankman-Fried.

It was served by the Official Committee for the Unsecured Creditors of Voyager Digital Holdings, which is a defunct cryptocurrency loan exchange. They informed him that he needed to present for the “remote deposition” on February 23.

In addition, it ruled that Bankman-Fried had until February 20 to submit all of the “documents and conversations” that were sought.

This arises as a result of the fact that it was disclosed in a court filing on February 6 that attorneys for Voyager had filed a subpoena on Bankman-Fried in addition to Alameda CEO Caroline Ellison, FTX co-founder Gary Wang, and FTX’s head of product Ramnic Arora.

By the 17th of February, it was mandatory for every single person to provide up the desired information.

In the past, Judge John Dorsey had granted FTX debtors permission, in accordance with the regulations of the bankruptcy court, to issue subpoenas requesting information and documents from former FTX coworkers as well as family members of Bankman-Fried.

It was disclosed on February 16 that Bankman-bail Fried’s could potentially be revoked after Judge Lewis Kaplan stated that there was “probable cause” to believe that he engaged in attempted witness tampering. Judge Kaplan stated that there was “probable cause” to believe that Bankman-Fried attempted to tamper with a witness.

Previous court filings that were submitted on February 3 indicated that Bankman-holding Fried’s company, Emergent Fidelity Technologies, had also applied for protection under the bankruptcy code.

FTX Japan users withdraw funds amid litigation

The continuing dispute between FTX and its co-founder, Sam Bankman-Fried (SBF), has been making a stir in the cryptocurrency market, with many consumers left waiting for a resolution to the conflict between the two parties. In the meanwhile, customers of FTX Japan have made the executive decision to take things into their own hands by withdrawing all of their money.

The problems for FTX started in November 2022, when Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao made the announcement that his company would be liquidating its substantial holdings of FTX Token (FTT). This caused a domino effect that slowed down fund withdrawals across FTX and its subsidiaries. FTX Token (FTT) was the cryptocurrency that Binance held. The statement had a particularly negative impact on the Japanese cryptocurrency trading site Liquid Group, which has been controlled by FTX since February 2022. On November 15, withdrawals were fully halted for the platform.

Moving ahead in time to the 21st of February, FTX Japan commenced withdrawals, although the procedure was not an easy one. In order to complete the withdrawals, cash needed to be transferred from the now-defunct FTX Japan exchange onto an account with Liquid Japan. Despite this, some users saw this as a positive turn of events, and as a result, many of them started withdrawing all of their money from FTX Japan.

Hibiki Dealer, a well-known cryptocurrency trader based in Japan, just reported that they were able to effectively remove all of their cash off the site. Concerns have been expressed regarding the steadiness and dependability of cryptocurrency exchanges as a result of the scenario, even if it is unknown how many users have followed suit.

The volatility nature of the cryptocurrency market highlights the significance of effectively managing risk, which is also brought to light by this episode. It is essential for exchanges to have solid risk management procedures in place in order to safeguard not just themselves but also the users of their platform. In spite of this, it is still unknown how FTX will bounce back from this setback, which is particularly concerning given the current legal dispute with SBF that hangs over the firm.

In conclusion, while the decision by FTX Japan to restart withdrawals was a welcome step for its consumers, the scenario has underlined the issues that face crypto exchanges in a market that is very volatile. Cryptocurrency exchanges must place an increased emphasis on risk management and user safety in order to remain competitive in an industry where consumers are increasingly demanding accountability and transparency.

FTX debtors report over $4 billion in scheduled assets

FTX, the cryptocurrency exchange founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in November 2022 following allegations of fraudulent activities. In a recent filing with the United States Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, FTX debtors reported more than $4 billion in scheduled assets across various company silos as of November 2022.

The report submitted to the committee of unsecured creditors detailed the scheduled assets and claims of the company. The West Realm Shires silo, which includes FTX US and Ledger X, FTX.com, Alameda Research, and FTX Ventures, had roughly $4.8 billion in scheduled assets and $11.6 billion in scheduled claims.

According to the filing, Alameda Research held the majority of scheduled assets at approximately $2.6 billion. However, the report noted that the company had “potentially material claims that have been filed as undetermined,” suggesting that the actual value of Alameda’s assets could be even higher.

FTX.com had over $11.2 billion in scheduled claims, but claims from FTX Ventures were undetermined. The report also revealed that the data surrounding cryptocurrency holdings or transactions was limited. While the debtors reported more than 53 million FTX Tokens collateralized loans, including Bitcoin, Ether, XRP, and USD Coin, they stated that “additional tracing of wallet and blockchain activity remains an ongoing matter.”

The debtors’ report also noted that an investigation into crypto transactions as part of payments to FTX company insiders was ongoing. The former CEO of FTX, Sam Bankman-Fried, received more than $2.2 billion of the payments, according to the report.

In addition to the bankruptcy case, Bankman-Fried is facing both criminal and civil cases for his alleged involvement in fraudulent activities at the company.

The news of FTX’s bankruptcy and subsequent investigations have raised concerns about the transparency and security of the cryptocurrency industry. However, the company’s scheduled assets of over $4 billion suggest that FTX was a significant player in the crypto market, and the ongoing investigations will shed more light on the company’s operations and dealings.

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