The purported sale is the latest action the struggling company has taken after taking steps to raise capital and preserve liquidity in recent months.
Cryptocurrency conglomerate Digital Currency Group (DCG) has reportedly begun selling its holdings in crypto funds managed by its subsidiary Grayscale Investments as it seeks to raise capital and maintain liquidity.
DCG has sold about a quarter of its stake in Grayscale’s Ether, according to a February 7 Financial Times report citing US securities.
ETH
typewriters down
$1,569
-based fund around $8 per share, despite each share claiming to have nearly doubled that amount in ETH.
It has also reportedly sold small stakes in Grayscale’s Litecoin
LTC
typewriters down
$89.84
, Bitcoin Cash
BCH
typewriters down
$126
and Ethereum Classic
Etc
typewriters down
$20.15
-based mutual funds in addition to its Digital Large Cap Fund, which combines Bitcoin
BTC
typewriters down
$22,350
, ether, polygon
MATIC
typewriters down
$1.1520
, Solana
SOL
21 dollars
and Cardano
GIVE
typewriters down
$0.342
in one fund.
When asked about the share sales, DCG quoted them as “simply part of our ongoing portfolio rebalancing.”
Despite this claim, some observers believe that Barry Silbert’s DCG may be heading for financial conflicts.
Another one of its subsidiaries – crypto lending firm Genesis Global Capital – filed for bankruptcy on January 19 and is believed to owe creditors more than $3 billion.
DCG-owned companies have been hit hard by the contagion from the FTX collapse, with more than 500 workers laid off in recent weeks.
However, DCG has taken steps to maintain liquidity in 2023, such as telling its shareholders in a Jan. 17 letter that it will end quarterly dividend payments as it plans to strengthen its balance sheet.
Related: Genesis creditors expect 80% recovery under proposed restructuring plan
DCG also sought help from financial advisory firm Lazard to help it consider a sale of cryptocurrency media outlet CoinDesk, another of its subsidiaries, after it said it had received offers in excess of $200 million for the outlet.
Grayscale, Genesis and CoinDesk are among about 200 crypto-related companies in DCG’s venture capital portfolio, according to its website. DCG also has stakes in other companies, including cryptocurrency exchange Luno and advisory firm Foundry.
