Binance buys Voyager’s assets for $1 billion after FTX deal falls through
Voyager said it has approximately $1.3 billion of crypto on its platform and holds over $350 million in cash on behalf of clients at New York’s Metropolitan Commercial Bank.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Binance will acquire crypto-assets and customer deposits of Voyager Digital in a $1.02 billion deal, weeks after a planned FTX-Voyager acquisition fell through due to FTXthe collapse and Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest.
Voyager filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, after crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) defaulted on a significant loan position extended by Voyager. At the time of filing, the crypto exchange had roughly $1.3 billion in assets, but was owed over $650 million by 3AC, compared to $5.8 billion worth of assets at the end of 2021.
related investment news
Binance.US is nominally independent from international Binance, but Reuters previously reported that Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao established Binance.US in 2017 in part to serve as a “regulatory investigation clearinghouse,” to capture and contain concerns from federal authorities. regulators.
Despite its nominal independence, Binance.US operated as a “de facto subsidiary” of the international business, according to Reuters.
In a press release, Voyager said that Binance.US’ offer represented “the highest and best bid for its assets following a review of strategic options with the core objective of maximizing value returned to customers and other creditors on an accelerated time frame.”
More than 1.7 million Voyager users were waiting to find out what would happen to their crypto. When FTX’s deal was announced, users were to receive an account credit along with custody of certain cryptocurrencies that FTX supported. But weeks later, after the exposure of a multibillion-dollar balance sheet hole forced FTX into bankruptcy, Voyager, like many other FTX acquisition targets, was forced out of business.
It is not yet clear how Voyager’s pending acquisition might affect Binance’s stake in the FTX-Alameda bankruptcy.
Representatives for Voyager did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
