Binance.US will acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital for $1.022 billion.
The Binance.US bid sets a clear path for Voyager customer funds to be unlocked and aims to return crypto to customers in kind, in accordance with court-approved disbursements and platform capability, Voyager said in a Monday (Dec. 9) press release.
The bid includes the fair market value of Voyager’s crypto portfolio at a future date that has yet to be determined — which is currently estimated to be $1.002 billion — and additional consideration equal to $20 million of incremental value, according to the press release.
The sale agreement follows Voyager’s July 5 entrance into a voluntary restructuring process. Voyager Digital will seek bankruptcy court approval to enter the asset purchase agreement at a Jan. 5 hearing, the release said.
Voyager’s selection of the Binance.US bid came after a review of strategic options that determined it to be the highest and best bid for its assets, according to the press release.
In a blog post announcing Voyager’s selection of the bid, Binance.US said it aims to return Voyager customer funds in the form of the cryptocurrencies previously held in their Voyager accounts as quickly as possible.
“We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process which saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own,” Binance.US CEO and President Brian Shroder said in the post. “Upon close of the deal, users will be able to seamlessly access their digital deposits on the Binance.US platform where they will continue to receive future disbursements from the Voyager estate.”
Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection on July 5, telling the bankruptcy court for the Southern District of New York that it was “facing a short-term ‘run on the bank’” after a borrower defaulted on a $650 million loan.
As PYMNTS reported at the time, while the filing mentioned the broader crash of the cryptocurrency market as well as the inability of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital — itself in bankruptcy — to repay its debt, the numbers showed a bigger problem that had been on display in other crypto lenders hit by the default.
Specifically, Voyager loaned out a staggering amount of its capital to a single borrower. The amount it loaned Three Arrows was equal to more than 10% of its liabilities and 35% of the funds it had on hand.
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