Genesis cleared by court to sell GBTC shares worth $1.3 billion

Genesis Global Holdco LLC won bankruptcy court permission to start redeeming roughly 35 million Grayscale Bitcoin Trust shares worth more than $1.3 billion as the bankrupt crypto lender readies plans to compensate clients who lent it digital assets.

Judge Sean Lane said Wednesday he’d grant Genesis’ request to convert the shares into either Bitcoin or cash, a process the crypto lender said would be conducted over time with the help of a broker. Genesis also intends to sell more than 11 million shares in two Grayscale Ethereum Trusts worth more than $200 million, according to a Feb. 2 court filing.

Genesis lawyer Sean O’Neal said the current value of the Grayscale shares is roughly $1.6 billion.

Genesis’ parent, Digital Currency Group, attempted to delay the redemptions until after the bankruptcy court decides later this month whether to approve its subsidiary’s debt repayment plan. Digital Currency Group, which opposes Genesis’ repayment plan, said its not against selling the shares but said the redemptions could be premature if the Lane rejects the plan.

Digital Currency Group lawyer Jeffrey Saferstein said the parent company was also worried that the Grayscale shares could be unloaded too quickly, depressing prices and minimizing potential recoveries for Genesis creditors. The parent company also sought the right to consult on the Grayscale shares.

But Lane said Genesis, which is being run independently in Chapter 11, has the right to determine how to sell its assets and said redemptions will be done strategically with a broker to ensure the shares are unloaded too quickly. The proposed sale was also widely supported by Genesis creditors.

The case is Genesis Global Holdco, LLC, 23-10063, US Bankruptcy Court, Southern District of New York (Manhattan).

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