Binance.US Terminates $1B Voyager Asset Purchase Deal

Binance.US, the American arm of the largest global crypto exchange, has backed out of the $1 billion deal to purchase digital assets from the bankrupt crypto brokerage, Voyager Digital. The decision came within a week of US federal regulators dropping the effort to block the deal.

Binance.US Ends a Much-Sought Deal

Binance.US did not specify any reason that forced it to back out from the deal, for which it fought for months with the US federal and state regulator. However, the crypto exchange hinted at the hostility of the regulators.

"While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager's customers access their crypto in kind, the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community," Binance.US wrote in a tweet.

https://t.co/AZwoBOgsqS has made the difficult decision to exercise its right to terminate the asset purchase agreement with Voyager. While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager's customers access their crypto in kind, the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate…

The Fight for Voyager's Assets

Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy last July following the collapse of Terra-Luna, which sent shockwaves to the entire cryptocurrency industry. Before going bankrupt, Voyager sent a notice of default to Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital (3AC) for failing to make payments on a crypto loan of over $650 million. In addition, 3AC collapsed and is now being liquidated.

In the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Voyager revealed that it had more than 100,000 creditors and assets between $1 billion and $10 billion.

Moreover, the collapse of New Jersey-headquartered and Toronto-listed Voyager pushed other crypto companies to rush for its discounted crypto assets. Initially, FTX US won the bid to procure the digital assets of Voyager, but the exchange and its Bahamas-based parent collapsed soon as the poor-business practices of Sam Bankman-Fried surfaced. Later, Binance.US outbid other players to acquire Voyager's assets but faced regulatory backlash.

The official Twitter handles of Voyager and its committee of unsecured creditors showed distress on Binance.US's abrupt decision to withdraw from the deal.

"Today, we received a letter from Binance.US terminating the asset purchase agreement. While this development is disappointing, our chapter 11 plan allows for direct distribution of cash and crypto to customers (a 'toggle option') via the Voyager platform," Voyager tweeted.

"Consistent with the plan, we will now move swiftly to return value to customers via direct distributions. We will provide more information on next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days."

2/ In the meantime, the Committee and Voyager are focused on promptly exercising the toggle option under the Plan to move forward immediately with a self-liquidation.