• Today’s the last day for Digital Currency Group (DCG) to raise $1 billion in cash to protect Genesis from failing.
• The crypto market fears that DCG might start selling its Bitcoin holdings to raise capitaL and Bitcoin is down 4 percent under $16,000.

After the collapse of the crypto exchange FTX earlier this month, fresh developments have turned investors’ attention to the Digital Currency Group (DCG) and Genesis Trading.

As per the latest report, DCG might be in a situation of liquidating its cash cow the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC). There are a lot of rumors surrounding this going currently into the market. But to understand this, let’s understand the interlinking between Digital Currency Group, Grayscale, and Genesis Trading.

DCG is the parent company of some of the well-known crypto firms such as Genesis and Grayscale. In the entire crypto space, Genesis is the only full-service prime broker and a major company in DCG’s portfolio. Besides, the company also plays a critical role in providing crypto access as well as managing risks for large institutions.

However, the crypto winter of 2022 is playing a major spoilsport in the entire show. Genesis started floundering with the collapse of the crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) but DCG managed to rescue it somehow.

Last week, Genesis also suspended payouts for its Genesis Earn Program. The company is in urgent need of a $1 billion cash infusion by today, November 21. If Genesis fails to raise this amount, it could bring a bad image for DCG which could have a spillover effect on Grayscale as well.

Will Grayscale liquidate its Bitcoin?

The rumor mill running in the market is that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) would start liquidating its BTC if Genesis doesn’t get the required cash. As of now, GBTC is holding a total of 634,000 Bitcoins in its kitty. Andrew Parish, co-founder of ArchPublic sparked off doubts stating that there are zero bids for Genesis’s $1 billion raise.

Andrew’s tweet has already put the entire crypto space under selling pressure. Bitcoin (BTC) is down nearly 4 percent at the time of writing, trading under the $16,000 level. However, popular crypto analyst Dylan LeClair has asked investors to take Andrew’s tweet with a grain of salt.

“No idea if this guy is just making stuff up or not, but at this point, absolutely nothing would surprise me. Take this guys sources with a grain of salt, but… Where there’s smoke, there’s often fire. Leverage kills – steady lads,” he wrote.

Another truth is that the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust (GBTC) is trading at a historic low of 46 percent discount to its NAV. Meaning, the Bitcoin price at GBTC is trading at less than $10,000, and still not enough institutional interest in it.

However, apart from selling BTC from the holdings of the Grayscale Bitcoin Trust, DCG could consider other options as well to raise $1 billion. This might include some of its other businesses including Luno, Foundry, and Coindesk. Grayscale and Genesis are certainly a greater priority for DCG over its other assets.