key takeaways
- Genesis issued a subpoena to Roger Ver for failing to liquidate more than $20 million in crypto options.
- CoinFLEX accused Ver of defaulting on a $47 million obligation last June.
- Genesis filed for bankruptcy last week.
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Roger Ver apparently owes Genesis $20 million. He was previously accused by cryptocurrency exchange CoinFLEX of defaulting on a $47 million obligation.
Bitcoin Jesus loves leverage
2022 must have been a difficult year for Roger Ver.
Genesis Crypto Lending Company issued a summons on January 23 to Roger Ver, claiming that the Bitcoin advocate owes him more than $20 million. According to the filing, Ver incurred this debt by trading cryptocurrency options, which expired on December 30, 2022. He was given 20 days to respond to the subpoena. Genesis is seeking damages and for Ver to pay the company’s legal expenses in his action against him.
Roger Ver is one of the early investors and influencers of Bitcoin. His evangelical promotional style earned him the nickname “Bitcoin Jesus.” He is the CEO of Bitcoin.com.
This is not the first time that a cryptocurrency company has accused Ver of failing to meet its obligations. In June 2022, the CoinFLEX cryptocurrency exchange Announced that Ver owed the company more than $47 million. He denied the accusation and claimed that it was, in fact, CoinFLEX who owed him funds. CoinFLEX decided to monetize his liability by creating a token, rvUSD (although officially called Recovery Value USD, the coin also bears Roger Ver’s initials).
Genesis is a subsidiary of Digital Currency Group. The crypto lending company froze loan origination and redemption on Nov. 16, citing “extreme market dislocation” due to FTX’s spectacular collapse and the panic it triggered across the industry. Genesis archived for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week; the company owes more than $3.5 billion to its top 50 creditors.
Gemini co-founder Cameron Winklevoss has claimed in several open letters that Genesis owes Gemini Earn clients more than $900 million; he also accused Digital Currency Group CEO Barry Silbert and Genesis of defrauding lenders.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing, the author of this article owned BTC, ETH, and various other crypto assets.
