Crypto exchanges FTX and Binance have reportedly made the highest bids on bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital Ltd. and its assets, but neither offer had been accepted as of Tuesday, according to a Wall Street Journal report. 

See related article: Sam Bankman-Fried lashes out at Voyager for rejecting FTX’s proposal 

Fast facts

  • The WSJ article published on Tuesday night cites “people familiar with the matter” who claim the current bid from Binance is about US$50 million, slightly higher than the competing bid from FTX.
  • FTX and Binance have managed to increase their share of the cryptocurrency trading market over the “Crypto Winter,” according to data from research firm CryptoCompare. FTX, owned by Sam Bankman-Fried, has lent lines of credit to and acquired distressed crypto companies and assets over the past year. 
  • Alameda Research, founded by Bankman-Fried, agreed to repay around US$200 million in cryptocurrencies to Voyager Digital in a court filing Monday. In addition, Alameda separately signed a non-binding agreement to give the crypto lender a $200 million cash and USDC line of credit and a second 15,000 Bitcoin revolving credit facility back in June. 
  • The bidding for Voyager’s assets began on Sept. 13 with a hearing scheduled for Sept. 29 to announce the winning bid. According to the WSJ, other bidders include crypto investment manager Wave Financial and trading platform CrossTower.
  • At the time of its bankruptcy filing in July 2022, Voyager reported that it had US$5 billion in total assets and $4.9 billion in liabilities. Voyager’s stock price has fallen more than 99% in 2022 as of time of press. 

See related article: Voyager gives Sam Bankman-Fried’s ‘low-ball’ bailout offer a single digit