Voyager said it has about $1.3 billion worth of crypto on its platform and over $350 million in cash on behalf of clients at New York’s Metropolitan Commercial Bank.
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Binance.US will acquire Voyager Digital’s crypto assets and customer deposits in a $1.02 billion deal weeks after a proposed FTX-Voyager acquisition fell through due to FTX’s collapse and the arrest of Sam Bankman-Fried .
Binance.US is nominally independent of the international Binance, but Portal previously reported that Binance CEO Changpeng “CZ” Zhao founded Binance.US in 2017, in part to serve as a “clearinghouse for regulatory inquiries,” to capture and contain concerns from federal regulators.
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Despite the nominal independence, Binance.US operated as a “de facto subsidiary” of the international business, according to Portal.
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 owed 3AC over $650 million, compared to assets of $5.8 billion at the end of 2021.
In a press release, Voyager said that Binance.US’ offer represented “the highest and best offer for its assets following a review of strategic options with the core objective of maximizing the value returned to customers and other creditors in an accelerated timeframe.”
More than 1.7 million Voyager users were waiting to know what would happen to their crypto. When FTX’s deal was announced, users were to receive account credit alongside custody of certain FTX-backed cryptocurrencies. But weeks later, after the exposure of a multi-billion dollar balance sheet hole drove FTX into bankruptcy, Voyager, like many other FTX acquisition targets, was bankrupted.
It’s not yet clear how the upcoming acquisition of Voyager might affect Binance’s involvement in the FTX-Alameda bankruptcy.
Voyager officials did not immediately respond to comment.