Dec 19 (Portal) – Crypto firm Voyager Digital Ltd announced on Monday that it will sell its assets to Binance.US following a review in a deal worth about $1 billion.
Binance.US, based in Palo Alto, California, operating as an independent legal entity and having a licensing agreement with Binance.com, will make a down payment of US$10 million and reimburse Voyager for certain expenses of up to US$15 million. The purchase price includes $20 million and repayments to Voyager’s customers, while the bulk of the $1 billion valuation consists of debt owed to Voyager customers.
Nearly $2 trillion in value has been wiped out of the crypto sector this year due to rising interest rates and mounting worries of an economic downturn. The slump eliminated key industry players such as Three Arrows Capital and Celsius Network.
The bigger blow, however, came after larger crypto exchange FTX filed for bankruptcy protection last month. Its rapid fall has also prompted strict regulatory scrutiny over how major exchanges hold user funds.
In September, Voyager Digital announced that FTX had won an auction for its assets in a bid worth approximately $1.42 billion after Voyager filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in July.
Voyager said Monday it will seek bankruptcy court approval for the Binance.US deal at a hearing on Jan. 5, 2023.
FTX filed for bankruptcy last month and Bankman-Fried resigned as CEO after traders pulled billions from the platform in three days and rival exchange Binance gave up on a bailout deal.
The collapse has fueled fears over the future of the crypto industry after FTX outlined a “severe liquidity crisis.”
Reporting by Manya Saini in Bengaluru; Edited by Krishna Chandra Eluri and Shounak Dasgupta
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