Barry Silbert ramps up lobbying while fighting billions in fraud

Barry Silbert ramps up lobbying while fighting billions in fraud

A crypto titan who has been accused of defrauding quite a few mega buyers — including Mark Cuban — has ramped up spending in Washington as he tries to push via an IPO of his company.

Digital Currency Group (DCG) founder Barry Silbert paid a settlement to the SEC last yr for deceptive buyers however continues to faces a number of fits from buyers and authorized action 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 yr.

Silbert has been ramping up his spending in Washington over the last yr. Bloomberg

Despite the ongoing litigation, Silbert’s spending suggests he believes that with sufficient cash, 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 same interval a yr earlier, according to public filings.

The affect 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 who’re owed cash, are indignant he’s spending any cash in DC or pursuing an IPO as he faces critical prices.

Another source said that DCG is just spending cash on lobbyists in an effort to schooling lawmakers.

“DCG has already paid everything it owed to Genesis,” a spokesperson for the company told 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 same time, Silbert has continued donating to particular person lawmakers. But many on Capitol Hill are skeptical it might probably work.

Samuel Bankman-Fried was a distinguished political donor before he was sentenced to jail on fraud prices. JUSTIN LANE/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock

“Taking money from DCG right now is like taking money from SBF,” a Republican strategist told 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 other DCG insiders extracted more than $1.2 billion in fraudulent transfers from Genesis in the yr before its January 2023 chapter, timing withdrawals round crypto’s 2022 market crashes.

According to court docket filings, Silbert allegedly lied to buyers about Genesis’s monetary strength to maintain their cash locked in while he, his brother Alan, associates and other insiders pulled their funds out, figuring out the company was “massively insolvent and a sinking ship.”

Larry Summers, a former advisor to the agency (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 buyers. Getty Images

Silbert couldn’t be reached for remark.

DCG paid the SEC $38.5 million in January 2025 for deceptive buyers, though the company denies broader wrongdoing.

The Grayscale IPO, filed in November 2025, would supply DCG with liquidity to fight lawsuits or settle claims. But analysts warn the fraud circumstances may sink it solely — Grayscale’s income already dropped 20% to $319 million in the first 9 months of 2025.

A source near the White House told The Post that Silbert’s lobbying blitz may even backfire since it’s “rubbing officials the wrong way.”

Silbert’s affect operation faces a harsh actuality: His cash can only accomplish that a lot.

“You can lobby all you want,” the Senate campaign supervisor said. “But when you’re facing the kind of allegations Barry Silbert is facing, nobody wants to be in the room with you.”

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