​Binance.US terminates its $1 billion deal to buy Voyager’s assets

What’s new? On April 25, the US arm of crypto exchange Binance terminated its deal to buy the assets of the bankrupt crypto broker Voyager Digital for more than $1 billion. Representatives of the broker called this development “disappointing,” but added that the bankruptcy plan allowed for direct distribution of cash and cryptocurrencies to customers through Voyager’s platform. The company added that under the terms of the agreement, Binance.US must destroy all information it received about Voyager customers and delete any accounts created using their data.

1/ Today we received a letter from https://t.co/yG7Airmib5 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 (@investvoyager) April 25, 2023

Binance.US comments. The exchange called the termination of its deal with Voyager “the difficult decision.” Binance.US officials said that they had hoped until last to help the broker’s customers access their cryptocurrencies, but “the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community.”

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… — Binance.US 🇺🇸 (@BinanceUS) April 25, 2023

How did events develop? On March 7, the court approved the deal despite objections from regulators, which included the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

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On March 15, prosecutors ordered a stay of the deal, fearing that selling the broker would absolve him of liability for past violations of the law. On the same day, the court rejected the order on the grounds that further waiting would harm Voyager’s customers. Their funds have been frozen since the bankruptcy was declared in July 2022.

On April 19, Voyager’s official committee of unsecured creditors and the US government reached an agreement on the deal. It was to be completed as soon as possible.