Crypto-Trading Firm Genesis Halts International Spot and Derivatives Trading

Cryptocurrency-trading business Genesis has stopped all its trading operations.

The company is closing its international spot and derivates trading operation, after shutting down its U.S. desk last week, CoinDesk reported Thursday (Sept. 14).

Reached for comment by PYMNTS, a company spokesperson provided an emailed statement: “Genesis has decided to stop offering digital asset spot and derivatives trading through GGC International, Ltd. (GGCI). This decision was made voluntarily and for business reasons. With this termination of services from GGCI, Genesis no longer offers trading services through any of its business entities.”

This decision comes after Genesis was severely impacted by the collapse of Three Arrows Capital and FTX last year, according to the report. The lending division of the company filed for bankruptcy in January, but the trading business did not.

Prior to the troubles that began last year, Genesis was a major player in the crypto-trading industry, the report said. However, industry conditions have worsened since then.

When announcing on Sept. 5 that the U.S.-focused spot crypto-trading business, Genesis Global Trading, will shut down on Monday (Sept. 18), the company said GGCI remained operational.

Genesis Global Holdco and two of its lending business subsidiaries — Genesis Global Capital and Genesis Asia Pacific — filed for bankruptcy in January.

Genesis was caught up in the adverse effects of the insolvency of FTX and its affiliates. It was the main partner in the Gemini Earn program, in which retail investors were to lend out cryptocurrency and get a fixed stream of returns. Gemini halted withdrawals from the program in November after Genesis said “unprecedented market turmoil” resulted in it lacking the liquidity to cover its redemption requests.

Two months later, in January, both Genesis and Gemini were charged by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) with offering unregistered securities. The SEC’s complaint centers on the Gemini Earn program, saying the program enabled the two companies to raise billions of dollars worth of crypto assets from hundreds of thousands of investors who weren’t provided the necessary information.

SEC Chair Gary Gensler said at the time that the two companies bypassed disclosure requirements designed to protect investors.