Judge clears Binance.US bid to acquire bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital

However, the judge asked other attorneys working on the deal to review the proposed purchase order documents before approving them. The transaction is currently scheduled for another hearing in March 2023 and is expected to be approved by a majority of Voyager’s creditors.

Crypto-currency lender Voyager Digital had initially agreed to sell itself to FTX. But following FTX’s collapse in November 2022, they decided to reopen the tender after which Binance.US managed to snatch the deal last month.

Joshua Sussberg, the attorney representing Voyager Digital noted that the bankrupt crypto lender was cooperating with the U.S. Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), even during the holiday season. He also noted that Voyager is looking to resolve any issues so that CFIUS can approve the transaction. “We are coordinating with Binance and their attorneys to not only handle this investigation, but to voluntarily submit an application to move this process forward” said Sussberg.

At yesterday’s hearing, speaking on behalf of Voyager, Christine Okike, a partner at Kirkland & Ellis, added that the lawyers had “Resolved for the purposes of today’s“objections made by the SEC and the State of New Jersey.”The Debtors contend that we have performed due diligence on Binance US, and that Binance US’s financials show that it has sufficient liquidity to pay the Debtors up to $35 million in cash, the maximum amount that could be owed” she said.

Binance.US settlement for Voyager creditors

Voyager attorney Joshua Sussberg believes that moving forward with the Binance.US deal would be in the best interest of Voyager’s creditors. “We don&t want to delay getting crypto money into the hands of our customers. The self-liquidation auction is not an option that will put the most money in our customers’ pockets” said Joshua Sussberg.

The Binance deal involves $20 million in cash payments and an agreement to transfer Voyager customers to Binance.US. According to Voyager estimates, the sale would allow customers to recover 51 percent of the value of their deposits at the time of the bankruptcy filing.