• Binance.US has withdrawn from its planned $1 billion acquisition of Voyager, citing the „hostile and uncertain“ regulatory climate in the United States.
• Voyager filed for bankruptcy in 2022 and then struck a buyout agreement with Binance.US, which faced strong opposition from regulators.
• The deal received court approval but has now been terminated by Binance.US, with Voyager directly distributing cash and crypto to its clients through its own platform.
Background
Binance.US has withdrawn from its planned $1 billion acquisition of Voyager, citing the „hostile and uncertain“ regulatory climate in the United States. Voyager, which filed for bankruptcy in 2022, will now distribute cash and crypto directly to its clients through its own platform. In the wake of the collapse of the FTX deal, Voyager struck a $1 billion buyout agreement with Binance.US however; this acquisition faced strong opposition from regulators such as the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and U.S Attorney Damian Williams who were worried about potential issues that could come up due to it being a foreign investment into an American company.
Court Approval
Despite these challenges, the deal received court approval but was later terminated by Binance US due to hostile regulations still surrounding it regarding foreign investments into American companies even after receiving court approval on it’s purchase agreement..
Voyager File For Bankruptcy
Voyager initially filed for a Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection plan in July 2022 (approved March 7th 2023), after crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital defaulted on a $650 million loan forcing them to auction off their crypto assets as part of their restructuring plan where FTX emerged as the highest bidder at first before falling through leading them down another path towards finding a new buyer when negotiations started with Binance US..
Binance Withdrawal
When FTX implosion forced Voyager to seek out another buyer again; CEO Changpeng „CZ“ Zhao hinted that this decision may have been due to potential pressure from regulators despite having already gone through court approval for their asset purchase agreement which was later revealed in an official statement that stated: “While our hope throughout this process was to help Voyager’s customers access their crypto in kind, the hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the U.S has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting entire American business community.“
Conclusion
After receiving notification via letter from BInance US terminating their asset purchase agreement; Voyagers Committee of Unsecured Creditors expressed disappointment over what had happened while reassuring their customers they would still receive cash & cryptocurrency via direct distribution through Voyagers platform nonetheless..