Binance.US is reportedly closer to acquiring Voyager assets after the UCC secured a deal with the US federal government.
Voyager Digital Holdings sees its $1 billion deal with Binance.US move closer to actualization following an agreement with the US government. Yesterday, the bankrupt crypto lender sealed a deal with the federal government that allows Voyager to sell its assets to Binance.US.
On Twitter, the Voyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (UCC) elaborated on the development, citing an April 19th filing. As the UCC wrote:
“Voyager, the UCC, and the Government reached a resolution that will allow the Plan to move forward and go effective shortly. The resolution is embodied in a joint stipulation providing that the appeals will continue with respect to the Plan’s exculpation provision. The Government has agreed that the Plan may move forward without such provision and will not otherwise be subject to the stay.”
The UCC also explained that it seeks to “move forward as quickly as possible” with the Voyager-Binance.US deal once a US District Court approves the stipulation. A federal judge previously put the deal on hold after the US government requested an emergency stay. This suspension took place late last month, granting the government additional time to present appeals challenging the deal.
US Regulators Keen to Halt Voyager-Binance.US Deal Over ‘Theft or Tax Avoidance’ Accusations
US regulators have tried several times to halt the Voyager-Binance.US deal since its March 7th approval. At that time, the bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles pointed out that further delay to the deal would compromise Voyager’s ex-clients awaiting payment. Furthermore, Wiles also weighed in after the US government described the bankruptcy rescue plan as an attempt to immunize fraud, theft, or tax avoidance. According to the bankruptcy judge, these accusations “exaggerated” and “mischaracterized” the nature of the deal.
A court filing from February 28th revealed that an overwhelming percentage of Voyager’s account holders favored the Binance.US deal. According to the court document, 97% of 61,300 account holders think Voyager should sell its assets to Binance.US.
Voyager Bankruptcy
Voyager filed for bankruptcy in mid-2022 due to unfavorable market conditions and began fielding multiple rescue attempts from various firms. At the turn of the year, Binance.US secured court approval to acquire some Voyager assets. However, the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) expressed concern over the nature of the billion-dollar deal, citing fairness and legality.
Nonetheless, Voyager has sought a coordinated plan to redistribute its funds to creditors since its July 2022 insolvency. For instance, the troubled crypto lender proposed a recovery plan at the time, that involved customers receiving combined reimbursement sources.
Voyager planned to pay crypto and ‘Voyager tokens’ to affected customers. In addition, the company proposed another plan. Voyager would compensate creditors with proceeds from the recovery of Three Arrows Capital and common shares in the newly reorganized company.
Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich said customers who owned US dollar accounts could access their funds after the firm completed a reconciliation and fraud prevention process.
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