Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis optimistic it can resolve creditor disputes

By Dietrich Knauth NEW YORK (Reuters) -A lawyer for the bankrupt Genesis Global Capital said on Monday that the cryptocurrency lender had some confidence it could resolve

its disputes with creditors this week, with a goal of emerging from Chapter 11 by late May. Sean O'Neal, the lawyer, spoke at an initial hearing in Manhattan bankruptcy

court for Genesis Global Capital, the crypto lending business owned by Barry Silbert's venture capital firm Digital Currency Group. Genesis and two lending units filed for

bankruptcy protection from creditors on Jan. 19, two months after it froze customer withdrawals in the wake of the collapse of Sam Bankman-Fried's FTX exchange. The filing

followed the bankruptcies since last July of crypto lenders Celsius Network, Voyager Digital and BlockFi. O'Neal said Genesis had "some measure of confidence" it would

resolve its disputes with creditors this week, following about two months of negotiations, and would seek mediation if necessary. "Sitting here right now, I don't think

we're going to need a mediator," he said. "I'm very much an optimist." Brian Rosen, a lawyer for creditors holding $1.5 billion of claims, said "we are getting closer" to an

accord. U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Sean Lane granted a series of "first-day" motions by Genesis, including to pay employees and critical vendors, which are common in bankruptcy

cases. Citing customers' privacy interests, Lane also said Genesis did not have to reveal customer names in its lists of creditors, and suggested it warn about possible

phishing scams if their names were made public later.