DCG shutters TradeBlock institutional trading platform

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Digital Currency Group (DCG) will close its institutional trading platform, TradeBlock, by the end of the month, Bloomberg reported May 25.

Crypto market challenges
DCG’s decision to close TradeBlock comes amidst a harsh crypto market. One DCG spokesperson cited various challenges, stating:

“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.”

CoinDesk — a subsidiary of DCG — acquired TradeBlock in 2020 for an unknown amount. The news outlet said in a separate report that it had maintained the indexing side of the business, which is currently known as Coindesk Indices.

Only the institutional trading side of what has now become TradeBlock will be closed.

TradeBlock will be shuttered on May 31, Bloomberg reported.

Other DCG issues

Another of DCG’s subsidiaries, Genesis, is also facing difficulties. The lending arm of Genesis filed for bankruptcy in January. The company owes $3.5 billion to creditors and recently said that it is in discussions with capital providers.

Genesis is also in conflict with Gemini, with which it formerly offered an Earn product that allowed users to earn interest on their crypto investments. Gemini recently claimed that DCG missed a $630 million payment that was due.

Two other DCG subsidiaries have additionally been affected by conditions. DCG shut down its wealth management subsidiary, HQ Digital, in January. DCG’s crypto exchange, Luno, also discontinued interest-bearing savings wallets in November 2022.