Topline
The independent U.S. arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance has landed a bid to effectively bail out crypto broker Voyager Digital and buy its assets for just over $1 billion—capping weeks of speculation about who would replace befallen exchange FTX U.S. in acquiring Voyager after it filed for bankruptcy this summer.
The deal comes after FTX.US sought to bail out Voyager Digital—only to itself plunge into … [+]
Key Facts
In a Monday morning press release, Voyager said Binance.US provided the “highest and best bid” for its assets with a deal valued at about $1.022 billion, including about $1 billion in Voyager’s cryptocurrency portfolio and a further $20 million in “additional consideration.”
The release says Voyager will seek bankruptcy court approval for the deal at a hearing on January 5 and then has until April 18 to finalize the agreement.
After Voyager filed for bankruptcy in early July, FTX U.S. swooped in with a plan to buy the firm’s assets for about $1.4 billion—a roughly 8% premium to Voyager’s crypto assets at the time—but the deal eventually fell through as FTX itself ran into liquidity issues and filed for bankruptcy in November.
Following FTX’s collapse, Binance CEO Changpeng Zhao late last month said Binance.US would make a bid for Voyager—joining a crop of other firms including crypto trading platform CrossTower looking to bail out the firm.
As part of the deal, Binance.US says it will make a $10 million “good faith deposit” and reimburse Voyager for up to $15 million in “certain expenses.”
Tangent
Amid a broader market downturn, cryptocurrencies have lost more than $2 trillion in value since amassing a record $3 trillion market capitalization last November. Roughly flat over the past day, the market currently commands about $800 billion in value, according to CoinMarketCap.
Key Background
Voyager was among the first firms to start collapsing as cryptocurrencies plummeted in value this year. On June 27, Voyager issued a notice of default to beleaguered Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) for failing to make payments on $675 million in bitcoin and stablecoin loans, and within a week the broker suspended trading and filed for bankruptcy. “While I strongly believe in this future, the prolonged volatility and contagion in the crypto markets require us to take deliberate and decisive action now,” Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich said in a statement. In a court filing, Voyager disclosed that it had more than 100,000 creditors and up to $10 billion in assets.
Further Reading
Crypto Broker Voyager Digital Files For Chapter 11 Bankruptcy (Forbes)
FTX Pays $1.4 Billion To Get Voyager’s Crypto, Customers (Forbes)
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/jonathanponciano/2022/12/19/binance-us-wins-bid-to-buy-bankrupt-voyager-digitals-assets-in-1-billion-deal-for-crypto-tokens/