Judge Gives Initial Approval for Binance.US to Acquire Voyager’s Assets
- Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital has received an initial approval from the bankruptcy court to sell its assets to Binance.US for a little over $1 billion.
- The deal, however, still requires approval from a majority of Voyager’s creditors, and is subject to another confirmation hearing scheduled for March.
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A U.S. court has given its initial approval for bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital to proceed with its proposal to sell its assets to Binance.US for a little over $1 billion, Reuters reported on 11 January.
According to the publication, Judge Michael Wiles of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York has approved Voyager’s request to enter into an asset purchase agreement with Binance.US and seek approval from a majority of Voyager’s creditors. The deal is still not complete, however, and will be a subject to another confirmation hearing scheduled for March.
Voyager attorney Joshua Sussberg noted during the court hearing that the bankrupt crypto lender was responding to questions raised by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), an interagency body that reviews foreign investments into U.S. companies. Sussberg said that Voyager was ready to address any concerns that could lead CFIUS to oppose the deal:
“We are coordinating with Binance and their attorneys to not only deal with that inquiry, but to voluntarily submit an application to move this process along.”
Voyager filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy back in July, and in September agreed to sell its assets to FTX, but that deal fell apart in November when the crypto exchange collapsed. The bidding process was reopened once again, with Voyager agreeing to Binance.US’ bid to acquire its assets for $1.022 billion in December.
Last week, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filed a limited objection to the deal that questioned Binance.US’ ability to fund such a large acquisition, and called on Voyager to provide more information on what would happen should this deal fall appart as well. FTX’s sister company Alameda Research — which is also undergoing bankruptcy proceedings — also filed an objection to the deal, claiming that it “unfairly discriminates against” Alameda’s claims as it was a “substantial shareholder” of Voyager.
- The Economic and Financial Affairs Council of the EU, which is comprised of finance ministers of all 27 member states, unanimously approved the MiCA crypto regulation.
- The EU’s finance ministers also also gave their consent to new measures that will allow tax authorities to collect data on individuals’ cryptocurrency holdings.
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- The IRS filed its claims against FTX under the “Admin Priority” classification, which could allow it to supersede the claims of other creditors in the bankruptcy case.
- The largest of the claims is against Alameda Research LLC, with the IRS claiming around $20 billion in partnership taxes and close to $400 million in payroll taxes.
- The cryptocurrency exchange is estimated to have more than 100,000 creditors, and between $500 million and $1 billion in both assets and liabilities.
- The Chapter 11 filing came less than a month after the U.S. SEC filed charges against Bittrex and its former CEO, claiming they were operating an unregistered securities exchange.