FTX Collapse Created 'Unprecedented Market Turmoil'

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Cryptocurrency exchange Genesis on Wednesday suspended withdrawals within its lending unit and blamed the recent collapse of exchange FTX for spurring a spike in withdrawal requests that exacerbated the lender’s liquidity—becoming the latest crypto firm embroiled in market turmoil that’s forced formerly high-flying firms into bankruptcy and wiped $2 trillion in market value.

The crypto firm with some $3 billion in loans originated is the latest to suspend customer … [+] withdrawals.

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Key Facts

In a Wednesday morning tweet thread, Genesis said FTX’s sudden collapse last week “created unprecedented market turmoil, resulting in abnormal withdrawals requests” that exceeded Genesis’ liquidity.

As a result, Genesis said it has temporarily suspended redemptions and new loan originations in its lending business, Genesis Global capital, which had some $2.8 billion in loan volume at the end of last quarter; the company offered no timeline for the suspension but said it plans to “deliver a plan” for the future of its lending business next week.

Genesis said the move comes despite its work to “derisk” its lending business and “shore up [its] liquidity profile” after the default of Three Arrows Capital in June also negatively impacted the firm’s liquidity.

Crypto markets ticked down after the announcement, with the price of bitcoin, at roughly $16,580, trading about 2% below its level one day prior.

Key Background

Fears of global recession and the worst inflation in more than 40 years have wreaked havoc on the nascent cryptocurrency market this year—unleashing a fierce crypto winter that’s forced once high-flying firms into bankruptcy and pushed investors into panic-selling mode. The turmoil has claimed nearly $2 trillion in market value, billions of dollars in frozen funds and thousands of jobs. The situation has only worsened this month with the sudden collapse of FTX, one of the world’s largest crypto exchanges which filed for bankruptcy last week. Last week, Genesis disclosed its derivatives business had approximately $175 million in funds locked on FTX; however, it also claimed its operating capital and net positions in the firm were “not material” to its business.

Tangent

Citing “extreme market conditions,” crypto lender Celsius became the first major platform to pause withdrawals and transfers between customer accounts in June. Within days, others followed suit: Babel Finance, CoinFLEX and Voyager all froze withdrawals. More recently, lender BlockFi is reportedly preparing for bankruptcy.

FTX Collapse Created ‘Unprecedented Market Turmoil’

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Key Facts

Key Background

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