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Winklevoss slams DCG’s Silbert — Not even SBF was ‘capable of such delusion’

In an open letter, Cameron Winklevoss slammed DCG's Barry Silbert for allegedly playing the victim card while owing $1.2 billion to Gemini’s 232,000 Earn customers.

Crypto exchange Gemini founder and CEO Cameron Winklevoss is again threatening to sue Digital Currency Group and its CEO Barry Silbert over delays in the resolution of Genesis for its Earn customers while slamming the CEOfor allegedly trying to play the victim card.

In the July 3 “Open Letter to Barry Silbert,” Winklevoss alleged the DCG enterprise had engaged in “fraudulent behavior” via a “culture of lies and deceit” — which have come at the expense of Gemini’s 232,000 Earn users.

Among the accusations, Winklevoss’ strongly-worded letter alleges that Silbert intentionally delayed resolution through “abuse” of the mediation process, stating: 

"Mediation has given DCG an indefinite forbearance on the $630 million it owes Genesis — for free."

Most disturbing, according to Winklevoss, has been Silbert’s apparent claim of being the “victim” in the debacle.

 “It takes a special kind of person to owe $3.3 billion dollars to hundreds of thousands of people and believe, or at least pretend to believe that they are some kind of victim," said Winklevoss, adding: 

Not even Sam Bankman-Fried was capable of such delusion.”

DCG’s Genesis was the lender behind Gemini Exchange's Earn program, a product that promised returns as high as 8% to depositors. However, on November 16, Genesis announced it temporarily suspended withdrawals citing “unprecedented market turmoil.” Genesis later filed for bankruptcy on January 19.

Genesis later filed for bankruptcy on January 19, with Gemini seeking to recover its share of the billions owed by Genesis to creditors since.

However, after what Winklevoss has described as multiple delays, he appears to have had enough.

“I write to inform you that your games are over,” Winklevoss said, explaining that professional fees have now “ballooned” to over $100 million at the expense of credits and Earn users. “Enough is enough.”

Winklevoss has now given Silbert an ultimatum, accept his firm’s “best and final offer” by 4 pm ET on July 6 — or face a lawsuit on July 7.

The final offer to DCG as presented by Cameron Winklevoss. Source: Twitter

The offer pitched calls on DCG to make a $275 million payment by July 21, an additional $355 million before July 21, 2025 and a final payment of $835 million by July 21, 2028 — five years from the "Plan Support Agreement” date proposed by Winklevoss.

The total payment will come to $1.47 billion.

Related: Gemini, Genesis file to dismiss SEC lawsuit against Earn product

Winklevoss wants the payments to be made in the form of Bitcoin (BTC) Ether (ETH) and the United States dollar (USD), with the funds sourced from Genesis Global Trading, potential payouts from FTX and Alameda Research’s bankruptcy estates in addition to Avalanche (AVAX) and Near (NEAR) tokens it may have a claim to from Three Arrows Capital’s bankruptcy estate.

Cointelegraph reached out to DCG for comment but did not receive an immediate response.

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Gemini ‘supportive’ of Genesis mediation, but frustrated over pacing

Genesis is starting a 30-day meditation with its key creditors as its bankruptcy proceedings are close to hitting the four-month mark.

Crypto lender Genesis and its key creditor group have agreed to a 30-day mediation process in an attempt to move forward with a final restructuring plan, though one company is expressing "frustration" over the pace of progress.

On April 30, Gemini tweeted that Genesis, its parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG), its Unsecured Creditors Committee (UCC) and Gemini have agreed to a 30-day mediation process in court on April 28. 

Gemini said its aim is to "drive to a final resolution as soon as possible, and that it was "supportive" of mediation. Gemini however added it had “expressed our frustration” regarding “the pace of progress among the parties and the need for urgency.”

The mediation is to move forward on a proposed bankruptcy exit plan submitted in February that expected creditors to recover 80% of lost funds. The plan is backed by DCG but the UCC opposed the restructuring deal wanting better terms.

Genesis is slated to next appear in bankruptcy court on May 4. Sean O’Neal, a lawyer for Genesis, said in court on April 30 that it hopes to have two mediation sessions before May 8 with the deal's final terms made public after the mediation period.

A mediator will need to be selected by Genesis and the UCC. O’Neal said potential mediators have started to be contacted and the process will be outlined to the court once one is selected.

Related: Binance.US, Alameda, Voyager Digital and the SEC — the ongoing court saga

On April 25, DCG expressed its thoughts on the matter when Genesis filed its motion for mediation.

The crypto conglomerate said the settlement would “prolong the court process” due to the renewed demands and added it was “difficult to understand the rationale” of Genesis creditors as they had given “limited engagement” since the plan proposed in February.

Genesis filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in a New York District Court in January, estimating its liabilities were between $1 billion and $10 billion with assets in the same range.

The crypto lender was one of several firms hit by liquidity issues in the wake of the collapse of FTX.

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