DCG Packs Up Institutional Trading Platform TradeBlock

Summary:

• TradeBlock will shutter its institutional trading platform come May 31, per a DCG announcement.
• Bloomberg reported that parent company Digital Currency Group (DCG) arrived at the decision amidst the hostile crypto regulatory atmosphere in the U.S.
• The company is also experiencing cash problems and missed a $630 debt repayment to crypto exchange Gemini.
• DCG subsidiary Genesis declared bankruptcy following frozen withdrawals and exposure to collapsed crypto entities.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) will close the curtain on its institutional trading platform TradeBlocks due to financial hurdles and tensions that characterize the U.S. crypto regulatory landscape.

Due to the state of the broader economy and prolonged crypto winter, along with the challenging regulatory environment for digital assets in the US, we made the decision to sunset the institutional trading platform side of the business.

– A DCG spokesperson to Bloomberg.

TradeBlock clients will have access to the platform until May 31 when the institutional trading service will officially shut down. It’s not yet clear how client withdrawals, balances, and assets will be handled.

DCG’s Floating Company Portfolio

TradeBlock was acquired by crypto news outlet CoinDesk – another Digital Curren Group-owned company – in January 2021 for an undisclosed fee. CoinDesk rebranded the startup’s institutional-grade market index infrastructure and rebranded the offering to CoinDesk Indices. TradeBlock’s other offerings were left to operate as a standalone business.

Barry Silber’s Digital Currency Group has experienced uncertain times since the acquisition. CoinDesk engaged investors in January over a potential takeover as its parent company fell into financial difficulties. The conglomerate closed its wealth management division HQ in the same month.

Last year, the group downsized its workforce by some 500 employees and posted $1 billion in losses thanks to crypto meltdowns following crashes like FTX and Three Arrows Capital.

Recently DCG missed a $630 million repayment to crypto exchange Gemini. The exchange said DCG owes the massive amount to its Earn users. Gemini could explore a forbearance option that could allow Digital Currency Group and its bankrupt Genesis arm to resume payments at a later date but that depends on The Group’s approach toward an agreement, the Winklevi-founded company said.