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U.S. SEC Objects to Voyager-Binance.US $1 Billion Deal

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The Commission filed the objection on January 4 after the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital recently announced it had agreed to sell its assets to Binance.US, the American division of leading cryptocurrency exchange Binance.

SEC Files Limited Injection to Voyager-Binance.US Deal

In its filing, the SEC stated that Voyager had failed to provide the necessary information concerning the deal. According to the regulator, Voyager has not shown that Binance.US will be able to consummate a transaction worth around $1 billion, and also the nature of Binance.US business operations after the acquisition.

Furthermore, the securities watchdog stated that Voyager had not provided sufficient details regarding how it intends to secure customer assets against theft or loss while implementing the planned process. The SEC added that the crypto lender had not provided details of how it would rebalance its portfolio if the sales transaction was not consummated on a specific date.

The SEC has requested that Voyager provide sufficient details regarding implementing these steps.

It is worth noting that the SEC is not the only U.S. regulator to have objected to this deal, as the U.S. Trustee of the Justice Department (DOJ), the Texas State Securities Board, and the Texas Department of Banking have all made a similar move recently.

Voyager’s Financial Troubles

Voyager suspended withdrawals and filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July. Since then, the lender has been seeking buyers for its distressed assets to be able to return value to its customers.

U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Wiles had previously approved Voyager’s plan to sell its assets to crypto exchange FTX US at approximately $1.4 billion. However, the deal was terminated after FTX US filed for bankruptcy last month.

Following the termination, Voyager resumed its auction process and selected Binance.US as the highest and best bid. The deal, estimated to be $1.022 billion, comprises a fair market value of all Voyager crypto assets at a to-be-determined future date.

(By William A. Frederick)

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