Cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital Ltd., which filed for chapter 11 bankruptcy in the U.S. in July, said in a Monday statement it had accepted a bid by Binance.US for assets that Voyager valued at US$1.022 billion, adding it was the best offer to maximize returns to creditors.
That deal offers “fair market value of Voyager’s cryptocurrency portfolio at a to-be-determined date in the future, which at current market prices is estimated to be US$1.002 billion, plus additional consideration equal to US$20 million of incremental value,” the statement said.
California-based Binance.US will provide a “US$10 million good faith deposit and will reimburse Voyager for certain expenses up to a maximum of US$15 million,” the statement said, adding the deal has until April 2023 to close. No other financial details on the offer were disclosed.
Voyager had been set to sell assets to Sam Bankman-Fried’s cryptocurrency exchange FTX, but that deal imploded when FTX filed for bankruptcy on Nov. 11. Binance.US said the bid will allow Voyager customers access to cryptocurrencies held in their accounts.
“Upon the close of the deal, users will be able to seamlessly access their digital assets on the Binance.US platform, where they will continue to receive future disbursements from the Voyager estate,” said Brian Shroder, the head of Binance.US, an affiliate of Binance.com., the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange.
“Rather than having their assets liquidated for cash, our bid permits users to retain their cryptocurrencies and empowers them to make future decisions on what they want to do with their assets,” Shroder said in a tweet.
Voyager Digital failed in the aftermath of the US$40 billion Terra-Luna stablecoin collapse in May this year that bankrupted several other crypto businesses with investments linked to Terra-Luna. The fall in overall crypto prices that followed left Voyager unable to redeem withdrawals by customers. In its bankruptcy filing, Voyager reported that it had US$5 billion in assets and US$4.9 billion in liabilities.
In September, Voyager Digital had been auctioned to FTX in a deal that would have provided US$51 million to Voyager in exchange for what was at that time US$1.422 billion worth of cryptocurrencies.
Binance.US’s move follows reports that Binance itself reportedly saw several billion dollars of withdrawals last week as investor faith in centralized exchanges has been shaken by the FTX collapse.
