A federal US bankruptcy court signed off on Voyager’s long awaited restructuring plan on Tuesday, with Binance.US officially stepping in as the crypto credit company’s expected financial savior.
Binance.US has agreed to cough up $1.3 billion in the process, according to multiple reports, in an agreement to acquire Voyager’s assets. The billion dollar-plus payouts, according to Reuters, accounts “for the bulk of the deal’s valuation.”
Voyager’s numerous creditors — including retail customers whose assets have been locked up on the platform since 2022 — have been increasingly ramping up settlement pressure. The creditors and their attorneys have gone up against repeated complications in that attempt, including objections born out of regulatory concerns.
Binance.US in December 2022 reached a tentative agreement to purchase Voyager.
Binance.US has entered an agreement with Voyager to purchase the bankrupt lender for more than $1 billion, the companies announced Monday.
The bid, which was the highest and best offered, as per bankruptcy code, comes in at about $1.022 billion. The figure represents fair market value of Voyager’s assets at current prices, plus $20 million in incremental value, Voyager noted in a statement.
Voyager was originally slated to be acquired by FTX.US, the American affiliate of the now-bankrupt FTX exchange, after the lender’s assets went to auction in September. FTX.US’ offer was $1.2 billion.
Following FTX’s collapse, Binance confirmed that its American subsidiary, Binance.US, would make its own offer. A spokesperson for Voyager declined to comment.
“The Binance.US bid aims to return crypto to customers in kind, in accordance with court-approved disbursements and platform capabilities,” Voyager said in the statement.
Voyager’s native token, VGX, jumped nearly 35% following news of the bid.
Binance.US will make a $10 million good faith deposit, the lender said. Voyager will seek court approval to enter the asset purchase agreement with Binance US at a hearing scheduled for Jan. 5, 2023.
