Binance.US, the American arm of the largest global crypto exchange, has backed out of the $1 billion deal to purchase digital assets from the bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital. The decision came within a week of US federal regulators dropping the effort to block the deal.
Binance.US did not specify any reason that forced it to back out from the deal, for which it fought for months with the US federal and state regulator. However, the crypto exchange hinted at the hostility of the regulators.
“While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager’s customers access their crypto in kind, the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community,” Binance.US wrote in a tweet.
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
The Fight for Voyager’s Assets
Voyager Digital filed for bankruptcy last July following the collapse of Terra-Luna, which sent shockwaves to the entire cryptocurrency industry. Before going bankrupt, Voyager also sent a notice of default to Singapore-based Three Arrows Capital (3AC) for failing to make payments on a crypto loan of over $650 million. 3AC also collapsed and is now being liquidated.
In the Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing, Voyager revealed that it had more than 100,000 creditors and assets between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The collapse of New Jersey-headquartered and Toronto-listed Voyager also pushed other crypto companies to rush for its discounted crypto assets. FTX US initially won the bid to procure the digital assets of Voyager, but the exchange and its Bahamas-based parent collapsed soon as the ill-business practices of Sam Bankman-Fried surfaced. Later, Binance.US outbid other players to acquire Voyager’s assets but faced regulatory backlash.
The official Twitter handles of Voyager and its committee of unsecured creditors also showed distress on Binance.US’s abrupt decision to withdraw from the deal.
“Today, we received a letter from Binance.US terminating the asset purchase agreement. While this development is disappointing, our chapter 11 plan allows for direct distribution of cash and crypto to…
