Binance will acquire the crypto assets and customer deposits of Voyager Digital in a $1.02 billion deal, weeks after a planned FTX-Voyager acquisition failed as a result of FTX’s collapse and Sam Bankman-Fried’s arrest.
Voyager filed for bankruptcy protection in July 2022, after crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) defaulted on a significant loan position extended by Voyager. At the time of filing, the crypto exchange had approximately $1.3 billion in assets but was owed over $650 million by 3AC, compared to $5.8 billion worth of assets at the end of 2021.
Binance.US is nominally independent of the international Binance, but Reuters has previously reported that Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao established Binance.US in 2017 in part to serve as a “regulatory inquiry clearing house,” to catch and contain concerns from federal regulators.
Despite the nominal independence, Binance.US operated as a “de facto subsidiary” of the international business, according to Reuters.
In a press release, Voyager said that Binance.US’ offer represented “the highest and best bid for its assets after a review of strategic options with the core objective of maximizing the value returned to customers and other creditors on an expedited timeframe.”
More than 1.7 million Voyager users were waiting to discover what would happen to their crypto. When FTX’s deal was announced, users were to receive an account credit alongside custody of certain cryptocurrencies that FTX supported. But weeks later, after the exposure of a multi-billion dollar balance sheet hole forced FTX into bankruptcy, Voyager, like many other FTX acquisition targets, was forced into the lurch.
It is not yet clear how Voyager’s pending acquisition may impact Binance’s stake in the FTX-Alameda bankruptcy.
Representatives for Voyager did not immediately respond to comment, CNBC reports.
