Grayscale Bitcoin Trust terminates material agreements with Genesis

According to a recent filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Grayscale Bitcoin Trust has terminated two agreements with cryptocurrency broker Genesis.

First, Genesis will no longer assist Grayscale in the distribution and marketing of the latter’s shares. Second, from Oct. 3 onwards, Genesis will no longer be an authorized participant of the trust but will continue to serve as a liquidity provider for Grayscale. The two agreements previously came into effect in 2019. 

The aforementioned responsibilities have since transferred to Grayscale Securities LLC, a wholly-owned subsidiary of Grayscale Investments LLC and an affiliate of Grayscale Bitcoin Trust. In the past, Genesis helped Grayscale market the Trust on social media and transfer digital assets to create Trust shares.

However, it appears that Genesis may have fallen on tough times as part of the ongoing crypto winter. Last week, Genesis director Matthew Ballensweig announced that he was stepping down and moving into an advisory role. In August, Genesis’ CEO Michael Moro also resigned, whereas the firm cut its workforce by 20% to reduce