Chelsea FC owner first in line for $350M payout if Genesis goes under

Barry Silbert’s Digital Currency Group (DCG) could be forced to pay back $350 million to financier and Chelsea FC owner Todd Boehly if its brokering subsidiary Genesis goes under, according to people familiar with the company’s finances.

As reported by the Financial Times (FT), Boehly led a debt raise for DCG through his Eldridge investment group in November 2021. This raise included a $600 million loan from the group and a number of other investors.

If Genesis were to fail, $350 million of this loan would immediately become due and would have to be paid ahead of any other debts. This is due to the terms of the loan, its ranking, and preference rights, insiders told FT.

According to FT, Silbert informed investors that the Eldridge loan was outstanding after Genesis suspended some of its services last month in the wake of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried’s FTX. Despite Eldridge considering Genesis to be in default, it’s reportedly working with DCG to raise capital to avoid bankruptcy.

For the record, DCG claims its relationship with Eldridge “is entirely separate from Genesis’ restructuring strategy and has no bearing on any outcome at Genesis,” (via FT).

Read more: Genesis still consistently inconsistent amid bankruptcy claims

Creditors are chasing Genesis and DCG for nearly $2 billion

As reported last week by Protos, Genesis and DCG are currently being pursued by a so-called ‘creditors committee’ for more than $1.8 million.

When FTX collapsed, Genesis was forced to suspend redemptions. As a result, Genesis and DCG were left owing three major creditors — $900 million to the Winklevoss twins’ Gemini, the aforementioned $350 million to Eldridge, and around $300 million to European crypto exchange Bitvavo.

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