Digital Currency Group is exploring raising fresh capital by offloading some of the assets in its outsized venture capital portfolio, as the conglomerate's struggling crypto broker, Genesis, owes its creditors over $3B, the Financial Times reported Thursday, citing people with knowledge on the matter. DCG is looking to sell parts of its venture capital holdings, which consist of 200 crypto-related projects in at least 35 countries, worth some $500M, the people said. The investments, though, could take some time to sell since they are illiquid, one of the people added. The potential sale comes a couple months after Genesis, which enabled its customers to lend out their cryptos in exchange for competitively high yields, paused customer withdrawals after the collapse of crypto exchange FTX ( FTT-USD ) roiled the broader market. Connecticut-based DCG, which also owns crypto media outlet CoinDesk and digital currency asset manager Grayscale Investments, was said to have backed a number of crypto exchanges including Coinbase Global ( NASDAQ: COIN ), which made another round of job cuts earlier this week as it navigates the prolonged market downturn. Late last year, Genesis' crypto lending arm hired investment banking advisory firm Moelis & Company ( MC ) to explore how it can shore up its liquidity. Genesis then reportedly moved to slash 30% more of its staff earlier this month in a second round of layoffs .
