In a surprising turn of events, Binance.US, the American arm of the global cryptocurrency exchange established by CEO Changpeng Zhao, has backed out of a $1.3 billion deal to acquire the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital. has made the difficult decision to exercise its righ...
In a surprising turn of events, Binance.US, the American arm of the global cryptocurrency exchange established by CEO Changpeng Zhao, has backed out of a $1.3 billion deal to acquire the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital.
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
Throughout the acquisition process, Binance.US had intended to provide support to Voyager’s customers in accessing their cryptocurrency holdings.
However, in a tweet on Tuesday, the company stated that the uncertain regulatory environment has created an unpredictable operating landscape, affecting not only Binance.US but also 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
Voyager Digital, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July, expressed disappointment at the development. The company reassured its customers via Twitter that its bankruptcy plan allows for direct distribution of cash and crypto through the Voyager platform, known as the “toggle option”.
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
A committee representing Voyager’s creditors also weighed in, tweeting their disappointment and revealing that they are “investigating potential claims against Binance.US”.
1/ Around 2 hours ago, https://t.co/5sjac1H4CW purported to terminate the asset purchase agreement with Voyager. The Committee is incredibly disappointed with this decision and is investigating potential claims against https://t.co/5sjac1H4CW.— Voyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors (@VoyagerUCC) April 25, 2023
The acquisition deal faced several obstacles before ultimately being abandoned. In March, Voyager received court approval to sell its assets and transfer its customers to Binance.US, despite the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission’s (SEC) “limited objection” in January, which argued that the agreement lacked sufficient details on Binance’s ability to finalize the transaction.
Additionally, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) expressed concerns in March, suggesting that the deal should be put on hold while legal objections were addressed.
The recent decision by Binance.US to withdraw from the acquisition highlights the ongoing challenges faced by the cryptocurrency industry in navigating the complex and uncertain regulatory landscape in the United States.