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Binance.US has stopped a deal that would have allowed it to purchase assets of the bankrupt cryptocurrency lender, Voyager.
The termination marks the second time a deal to acquire Voyager’s assets has failed to reach completion.
The $1B Deal Falls Through
Voyager revealed that Binance.US served the struggling crypto lender a letter on April 25, 2023, terminating the deal to purchase its assets, and described the latest development as “disappointing.”
Binance.US, which also confirmed the termination, did not state a reason for pulling the plug but highlighted the regulatory issues in the United States.
“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’ attempt to purchase Voyager’s assets, which was favored by a majority of the crypto lender’s customers, was met with opposition by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the Department of Justice.
The Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) also sued the international entity Binance, alleging that the firm solicited US customers in contravention of federal trading laws.
Although the courts recently approved the purchase deal between Binance US and Voyager to continue, the termination from Binance could serve as another blow to Voyager customers who have witnessed the failure of two asset purchase agreements.
Before Binance.US, crypto exchange FTX.US, the American arm of the international firm FTX, won the bid in October 2022 to purchase Voyager’s assets. However, the deal fell through following FTX’s collapse and its eventual bankruptcy in November 2022.
Voyager Focuses on Reimbursing Affected Customers
Voyager, meanwhile, said the next course of action would be to directly reimburse customers whose assets were frozen in July 2022, based on its Chapter 11 plan.
“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.”
The distressed cryptocurrency lender also said Binance will have to permanently destroy all Voyager customer information and close any accounts set up with such information, based on the terms set in the asset purchase deal.
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