By
Chimamanda U. Martha
April 19th, 2024
Voyager Digital has confirmed it received a deal termination letter from Binance.US.
Binance.US, the United States arm of the Binance crypto exchange, has officially pulled out of the deal to acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital. The digital currency trading platform revealed this through its official Twitter handle, highlighting the key reasons behind the decision.
Binance.US said the deal which was first proposed in December will not be moving forward owing to the uncertainty in the regulatory environment in the US.
“Binance.US has made the difficult decision to exercise its right to terminate the asset purchase agreement with Voyager,” the exchange said in a Twitter statement. “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.”
According to Binance.US, its sole aim was to create an environment where its customers can partake in the digital currency ecosystem in a safe manner. The deal which was worth $1 billion has been tagged as a major source of relief for the Voyager Digital management, its users and creditors as well as its shareholders.
All the relevant stakeholders had approved the deal to proceed, however, the exchange is unconvinced that acquisition of Voyager will not come with extra strains and baggage. The deal to take over the assets of Voyager Digital was first made possible when FTX Derivatives Exchange, the first winner of the auction went bankrupt in November last year.
The deal has been opposed by a number of players including the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) but Binance.US has received a nod from the court as well as the Voyager Creditor Committee.
Voyager Digital Responds to the Binance.US Pullout
Voyager Digital has confirmed it received a deal termination letter from Binance.US in what constitutes a major setback for its bankruptcy plans. However, Voyager Digital noted that it is still on track to return value to all of its shareholders irrespective of the situation at hand.
The direct distribution of its assets has been tagged as one of the new approaches to repay its creditors it is now exploring.
“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,” the Voyager Digital’s Twitter update reads, “Consistent with the plan, we will now move swiftly to return value to customers via direct distributions. We will provide more information on the next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days.”
Despite the setback, some community members are happy the deal is cut off, saying they believe Binance may bring additional trouble to the firm.