Highlights
- Silbert believes a Coinbase listing would significantly boost TAO’s market presence.
- Federal authorities are investigating Silbert and DCG amidst fraud allegations by Winklevoss.
- Genesis’s collapse and SEC charges have intensified scrutiny on Silbert and DCG.
Recently, Garry Silbert, the founder and chief executive of DCG, took to Twitter with an early-day reflection on Bitcoin.
He referred to his “pain points” of acquiring Bitcoins back in the day and contrasted that to the “pain points” he is experiencing trying to get his hands on TAO at this point in time, reportedly a well-upcoming token.
Coinbase Listing Will Be ‘Game Changing’ for TAO
The whole thing spurred him into creating Grayscale Bitcoin Trust in 2013 for easy access to Bitcoin. He added that the availability was underpinned by TAO listing on major exchanges like Kraken and Binance, but a listing on Coinbase would be “game-changing in terms of market exposure and liquidity”.
Recently, US investigators were starting to scrutinize a feud between two cryptocurrency billionaires: Gemini Trust Co. co-founder Cameron Winklevoss and Barry Silbert. Winklevoss has been accusing Silbert and his company of fraud, especially concerning the financial dealings between DCG and its subsidiary, Genesis Global Capital.
Not letting denials of any wrongdoing by DCG stand in the way, federal authorities are said to be scrutinizing the matter closely, including the SEC, FBI, and Brooklyn prosecutors.
Genesis Collapse, SEC Charges Intensify Silbert Scrutiny
Winklevoss has talked to investigators about his allegations, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York is reviewing Silbert’s actions. To date, no charges have been filed against Silbert and DCG, but the attention the scandal is getting is unprecedented because of the size and stature of the companies involved. DCG insists its business practices are aboveboard and legal, but it is a tense time nonetheless while the investigation continues.
Genesis was a DCG subsidiary that specialized in cryptocurrency lending. It had partnered with the Winklevoss’s Gemini on a program called Gemini Earn, in which it allowed users of the exchange Gemini to earn as high as 8% interest on their digital assets. The deal proved lucrative for both firms until the mid-2022 collapse of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital left a multi-billion dollar hole in the balance sheet of Genesis. Things got worse after the collapse of FTX the following November.
As the redemption requests mounted, Genesis went on to freeze withdrawals in the second half of 2022 before filing for bankruptcy protection this January. In a related development, the SEC charged Genesis along with Gemini in January with selling unregistered securities through Gemini’s Earn program. Each of the companies, in addition to Gemini’s cofounders Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss, have denied the charges.
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