Good day and welcome to WSJ Pro Bankruptcy's Daily Briefing. It's Tuesday, January 24. In today's newsletter, we recap an optimistic first-day hearing for Genesis Global Trading, which expects to reach a restructuring deal with creditors soon. And Travelport Worldwide pulled a proposed loan amendment after lenders pushed back.

Bankrupt crypto lender Genesis expects quick deal with major creditors. Genesis Global Capital LLC expects a deal with major creditors to come together within days to provide a framework for a possible sale of the lending business or a restart of operations.

Lawyers for the bankrupt crypto lender said in a court hearing that Genesis has been in round-the-clock negotiations with its parent company and largest borrower, Digital Currency Group Inc., as well as creditors and other stakeholders, but couldn’t seal a restructuring settlement before filing chapter 11 last week. Absent a resolution “within the next few days,” Genesis will return to bankruptcy court to seek the appointment of a mediator, the company's lawyer said.

A resolution with institutions that put their clients’ money with Genesis is expected to jump-start other parts of its chapter 11 exit framework, including the marketing of its assets for sale and a possible capital raise.

• SEC scrutiny slows crypto IPOs. Crypto companies seeking to go public over the past year have faced increased scrutiny from the Securities and Exchange Commission, as financial distress and failures spread across the volatile industry.
  
  Most crypto firms say their digital assets aren’t securities, and therefore they don’t need to comply with investor-protection rules. But SEC Chairman Gary Gensler disagrees and contends much of the industry is noncompliant.
   
• Bitcoin retreats after recent rally. Bitcoin is trading at its highest levels in months alongside a rally in other risky assets, though it has recently retreated from the $23,000 price it hit over the weekend.

Travelport ditches loan amendment request. Travelport Worldwide Ltd. scrapped a proposal asking certain senior lenders to defer cash interest payments, people familiar with the matter said.

Facing liquidity pressure and a hefty debt load, the travel-booking platform had asked lenders to receive interest payments in-kind, meaning that instead of receiving cash, the interest would be added on to the principal amount and repaid later. The debt proposal didn’t gain traction with senior lenders that were uncomfortable with the fact that other, junior creditors weren’t asked to do the same, people familiar with the matter said. Debt discussions are expected to continue between creditors and Travelport, backed by private-equity owners Elliott Management Corp. and Siris Capital Group.

3M earplug mediation moves to bankruptcy court. Court-appointed co-mediators for 3M Co.’s earplug unit Aearo Technologies LLC will hold a formal mediation session in its bankruptcy case among the company and its earplug injury claimants in early February, according to court papers filed with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in Indianapolis on Friday.

The statement by co-mediators Randi Ellis and retired Judge Christopher Sontchi followed a recent order terminating a parallel mediation in Florida federal court, the site of 230,000 mass-injury lawsuits filed by U.S. military veterans claiming that 3M’s earplugs left them with lasting hearing damage.

Upon termination of the Florida mediation, co-mediators are moving the venue to continue their efforts “under the authority of the chapter 11 order, and all the participating parties are engaged and acting in good faith,” the mediators' statement said.

3M, which denies the earplugs are unsafe, placed Aearo under chapter 11 in July, aiming to resolve earplug lawsuits in the bankruptcy court. Aearo failed to extend its bankruptcy stay to 3M, allowing the earplug lawsuits to recommence against the company.— Akiko Matsuda

Janet Yellen pushes China on debt relief for Zambia. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen called on China to forgive debts owed by Zambia as its two-year struggle to restructure a $17.49 billion pile of foreign-currency loans and bonds has become a cautionary tale for other developing countries.

On a visit to the capital Lusaka, Ms. Yellen said the U.S. was concerned that Zambia was still waiting for its creditors to agree on the terms of its debt restructuring, but that recent talks with her Chinese counterparts gave her hope that a solution could be found soon.

• Coinstar, creditors tap advisers. Coinstar LLC, the Apollo Global Management-backed company known for kiosks that swap coins for cash, and a group of its creditors have tapped advisers to explore options ahead of fast-approaching amortization payments, Bloomberg reports.

Share your tips, suggestions and feedback with the WSJ Pro Bankruptcy team: Soma Biswas; Alexander Gladstone; Jodi Xu Klein; Akiko Matsuda; Jonathan Randles; Alexander Saeedy; Andrew Scurria; Becky Yerak. 

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