FTX won an auction for Voyager’s assets in September with an offer valuing the company at US$1.4 billion, of which US$51 million was in cash. That arrangement fell through after FTX imploded in November.
The Binance.US deal values Voyager’s crypto portfolio at just over US$1 billion at current market prices and includes another US$20 million of “incremental value,” according to the statement. The sale is subject to bankruptcy court approval, and a hearing is scheduled for Jan 5, 2023.
The Binance US entity buying Voyager operates as a separate legal entity with a licensing agreement with Binance.com and is led by Chief Executive Officer Brian Shroder. In a thread on Twitter, Shroder said they intend to provide users access to their assets in March 2023, pending court approvals.
2/ We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process which saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own. Our goal is simple: return users their cryptocurrency on the fastest timeline possible
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Voyager offered crypto trading, staking — a way of earning rewards for holding certain cryptocurrencies — and yield products and was among the companies burned by the downfall of hedge fund Three Arrows Capital Ltd. In June, it issued a notice of default to Three Arrows on a loan worth about US$675 million. In July, Voyager filed for bankruptcy.
Voyager also had extensive financial ties with Alameda Research, Sam Bankman-Fried’s crypto trading firm. Alameda acted as a lender, borrower, and backer of Voyager. The collapse of FTX bolstered Binance.com’s overall market dominance during a time of negative industry sentiment. Binance’s market share has risen to 52.9%, its biggest ever, according to data compiled by CryptoCompare.
