Binance.US to Pay Over $1B for Voyager Digital’s Assets
- The U.S. arm of the largest exchange in the world, Binance, has agreed to buy the assets of Voyager Digital for $1.022 billion.
- The bankrupt crypto lender had agreed to sell its assets for $1.4 billion to FTX.US, but that deal fell apart when the exchange filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in November.
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The U.S. arm of the largest exchange in the world, Binance, has agreed to buy the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for $1.022 billion, Voyager said in a press release on 19 December.
According to the announcement, Binance.US’ offer represented the “highest and best bid” for Voyager’s assets, which at current market value are worth around $1.002 billion, and an additional consideration of $20 million in incremental value. The exchange has also agreed to make a $10 million deposit in good faith, and reimburse Voyager for “certain expenses” up to a maximum of $15 million. The CEO and president of Binance.US, Brian Shroder, said in a statement:
“Our bid is a reflection of our guiding principle that customers should come first. We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process which saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own. Upon close of the deal, users will be able to seamlessly access their digital assets on the Binance.US platform where they will continue to receive future disbursements from the Voyager estate.”
The deal is not yet complete, however, and Voyager Digital will need to seek the approval of its presiding bankruptcy court in a hearing scheduled for 5 January. The sale will also be subject to a creditors’ vote, and if everything goes through, is set to close by 18 April 2023.
The troubled crypto lender filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on 6 July, after it experienced liquidity issues brought by its exposure to a $650 million loan defaulted by Three Arrows Capital. In September Voyager agreed to sell its assets to FTX.US, but that deal fell apart on 11 November when the exchange itself filed for bankruptcy, together with 130 companies connected to FTX and Alameda Research.
Rumors of Binance.US making a fresh bid for Voyager’s assets were confirmed on 24 November, when Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao appeared in an interview with Bloomberg. The news of the new deal quickly affected Voyager’s native token VGX, which jumped in price by over 30%.
- A little over $13 million in altcoins were sent to crypto exchanges Binance and Coinbase in the past 24 hours, which is in accordance with a September court order.
- The court ordered a phased liquidation process, which allows the bankruptcy estate to sell $3.4 billion worth of digital assets over a certain period of time.
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- The DoJ claimed most of the proposed experts lacked the necessary foundation for their opinions, making them unqualified to be an expert witness.