Breaking: Binance US terminates deal to acquire Voyager Digital’s assets

Binance US – the American arm of Binance – has terminated its deal to acquire crypto lending platform – Voyager Digital’s assets. The announcement was made by Voyager today on its official Twitter handle. Binance US confirmed the same on its social media channel. The crypto exchange blamed “the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate” in the US as the reason. In a Tweet, Binance US said,

“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 walks away from the crypto lender

With the deal terminated, the defunct crypto lender will now proceed to distribute cash and crypto to its customers. This move was part of its Chapter 11 proceedings. The company further said,

“Consistent with the plan, we will now move swiftly to return value to customers via direct distributions. We will provide more information on next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days.”

Notably, Binance US and Voyager’s deal was worth a whopping $1.022 billion. It was initially in the hands of FTX US but the deal fell through after the collapse of the exchange. Moreover, Binance US had to make a deposit of $10 million in good faith and take up Voyager’s expenses extending up to $15 million.

Additionally, soon after Binance US signed the deal to acquire the crypto lending firm’s assets, it was met with roadblocks from multiple authorities. This included the US Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC), and the Department of Justice (DoJ).

Despite the multiple hurdles, the defunct crypto lender had received a green light from the US government to move ahead with the deal. Moreover, the approval came at the nick of time as the deal had a completion deadline of April 18, 2023. All this, however, came crashing down with Binance US backing out of the deal altogether.

The Voyager Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors also released a statement on Binance US’ last minute drop out. The Committee expressed that it was “incredibly disappointed” with the deal termination. Nonetheless, it will investigate “potential claims” against the crypto exchange.

The story is still developing…