Barry Silbert ramps up lobbying while fighting – Business News
A crypto titan who has been accused of defrauding quite a few mega traders — together with Mark Cuban — has ramped up spending in Washington as he tries to push by means of an IPO of his company.
Digital Currency Group (DCG) founder Barry Silbert paid a settlement to the SEC final 12 months for deceptive traders however continues to faces a number of fits from traders and legal motion from New York’s Attorney General.
“Silbert and his cronies recklessly operated, exploited, and then bankrupted Genesis [DCG’s now-defunct crypto lending arm] following a spectacular campaign of fraud and self-dealing,” collectors wrote in Delaware Chancery Court submitting earlier this 12 months.
Silbert has been ramping up his spending in Washington over the past 12 months. Bloomberg
Despite the continued litigation, Silbert’s spending suggests he believes that with enough money, he can ingratiate himself to lawmakers.
In the third quarter of 2025, the company, which was based in 2015, spent $420,000 lobbying the Senate — more than triple the $130,000 it spent in the identical period a 12 months earlier, in accordance with public filings.
The affect marketing campaign comes as Silbert pushes to take DCG subsidiary Grayscale Investments, for which he serves as CEO, public in a potential $33 billion IPO, sources famous. Some, notably those that are owed money, are offended he’s spending any money in DC or pursuing an IPO as he faces severe costs.
Another source stated that DCG is solely spending money on lobbyists in an effort to schooling lawmakers.
“DCG has already paid everything it owed to Genesis,” a spokesperson for the company advised They Post. “The Genesis legal arguments, just like their complaints about our spending in Washington, DC, are without merit. We are proud of our efficient, transparent, and bipartisan presence in Washington, which is appropriate given the policy issues at stake.”
At the identical time, Silbert has continued donating to particular person lawmakers. But many on Capitol Hill are skeptical it could possibly work.
Samuel Bankman-Fried was a outstanding political donor earlier than he was sentenced to jail on fraud costs. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
“Taking money from DCG right now is like taking money from SBF,” a Republican strategist advised The Post, referring to disgraced FTX founder Sam Bankman-Fried. “The fraud allegations make it radioactive.”
Lawsuits from collectors, filed in each Delaware chancery court docket and Manhattan federal court docket, declare Silbert and different DCG insiders extracted more than $1.2 billion in fraudulent transfers from Genesis within the 12 months earlier than its January 2023 chapter, timing withdrawals round crypto’s 2022 market crashes.
According to court docket filings, Silbert allegedly lied to traders about Genesis’s financial power to keep their money locked in while he, his brother Alan, buddies and different insiders pulled their funds out, understanding the company was “massively insolvent and a sinking ship.”
Larry Summers, a former advisor to the firm (who most lately went on go away from instructing at Harvard after his Epstein ties had been revealed), left the company in 2023.
DCG paid the SEC $38.5 million in January 2025 for deceptive traders. Getty Images
Silbert couldn’t be reached for remark.
DCG paid the SEC $38.5 million in January 2025 for deceptive traders, although the company denies broader wrongdoing.
The Grayscale IPO, filed in November 2025, would offer DCG with liquidity to combat lawsuits or settle claims. But analysts warn the fraud circumstances might sink it totally — Grayscale’s income already dropped 20% to $319 million within the first 9 months of 2025.
A source close to the White House advised The Post that Silbert’s lobbying blitz might even backfire since it’s “rubbing officials the wrong way.”
Silbert’s affect operation faces a harsh actuality: His money can solely accomplish that a lot.
“You can lobby all you want,” the Senate marketing campaign supervisor stated. “But when you’re facing the kind of allegations Barry Silbert is facing, nobody wants to be in the room with you.”
