California-based cryptocurrency lender, Voyager Digital, has been given the green light by a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge to sell its assets to Binance.US in a deal worth $1.3 billion. The acquisition plan was approved after the judge overruled an objection from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which argued that Binance.US was operating an unregistered securities exchange. However, the judge was unconvinced by the SEC’s claims, stating that the agency failed to provide evidence and had waited until the last minute to raise concerns.
BREAKING: U.S. bankruptcy judge approves Binance US $1.3 bln deal for Voyager
Congratulations @cz_binance 👏
— whalechart 🐳 (@WhaleChart) March 7, 2023
The Binance.US acquisition will involve a cash payment of $20 million and the transfer of crypto assets deposited by Voyager customers. According to Voyager, the crypto assets, valued at $1.3 billion as of February 2023, will make up the bulk of the deal’s valuation. The acquisition plan allows Voyager to transfer customer accounts to Binance, but the company still has the option to walk away from the deal.
Voyager’s financial advisors have requested up to four weeks to review new concerns regarding Binance.US’s commitment to the acquisition, regulatory compliance, and the security of customer deposits. In addition, the deal is currently under scrutiny from the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which is investigating potential national security risks associated with foreign investment in Voyager.
Once the acquisition is finalized, Voyager’s customers can withdraw for the first time since the company froze their accounts last summer. Voyager filed for bankruptcy in July 2022 following the crash of major crypto tokens TerraUSD and Luna. The sale is estimated to allow customers to recover 73% of the value of their deposits at the time of Voyager’s bankruptcy filing. Binance.US has stated that it is fully independent of its international parent company, Binance, owned by Chinese-born and Singapore-based Changpeng Zhao.
***
