1.3 billion US dollars: Binance is allowed to buy Voyager

The bankrupt crypto lending service Voyager Digital has obtained permission from a US court to sell its company to the US subsidiary of the world’s largest crypto exchange Binance. The news agency reports Reuters. Binance had already submitted a corresponding application for the company takeover in December last year – for 1.022 billion US dollars. That came from one press release out. Account holders damaged by the bankruptcy have been asking regulators to approve the deal for some time.

Already on February 28, the Voyager bankruptcy administrator Stretto submitted in this regard a corresponding request with the competent New York court. It included a survey of 61,300 Voyager investors on what to do with the bankrupt company’s remaining assets. The result: 97 percent were in favor of a takeover by the US subsidiary of Binance.

There was initially resistance from the US financial regulator Securites and Exchange Commission (SEC). However, bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles has now approved the deal.

Voyager assets may be sold to Binance

Wiles said he will allow Voyager to complete the sale to Binance US and a related payout plan that would return customers around 73 percent of their outstanding cryptocurrency balances, depending on the rate. The bankruptcy judge dismissed SEC concerns that parts of the deal would violate applicable law: “I cannot put the entire case on hold indefinitely while regulators determine if they believe there are issues with the transaction,” so Wiles. He will sign the plan as soon as the final wording is available.

But here, too, there is resistance: prosecutor Peter Aronoff said during the announcement that he was considering appealing the decision.