Binance.US To Acquire Assets Of Voyager Digital For $1bn

Binance.US, a US-based exchange owned by Binance, has said it will acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto exchange Voyager Digital for $1.022 billion (£840m), as fallout from this year’s crypto failures continues.

Voyager halted user withdrawals in July due to liquidity issues arising from its exposure to a $650m loan to defunct hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. Voyager later filed for bankruptcy.

It had hoped to return some funds to investors by selling its assets to exchange FTX, one of the world’s biggest crypto exchanges, which itself collapsed in November.

Binance then said it would step in. It said the deal would allow Voyager investors to recover some funds on Binance.US based on their former positions on Voyager.

Customer funds

“Upon close of the deal, users will be able to seamlessly access their digital assets on the Binance.US platform where they will continue to receive future disbursements from the Voyager estate,” said Binance.US chief executive Brian Shroder in a statement.

In addition to the $1bn payout Binance.US said it would pay another $20m for other assets of “incremental value”.

Voyager and FTX are two of several high-profile failures in the largely unregulated crypto industry this year.

The deal is subject to approval by the bankruptcy court and other conditions.

Financial scrutiny

Binance is by far the largest remaining exchange in the crypto world, accounting for more than half of all trading volume.

Amidst the turmoil that has affected other crypto firms in recent months Binance’s own finances remain opaque, according to an investigation by Reuters published on Monday, which found Binance’s subsidiaries around the world had disclosed little information.

The company has said it is seeking “full transparency” and said Reuters’ assessment was “categorically false”, with Binance chief strategy officer Patrick Hillmann saying that as a private company the firm isn’t required to “publicise” its corporate finances.

Binance saw a surge in customer withdrawals of around $6bn over 72 hours last week but said it had handled this “without breaking stride” because of solid financials. The value of its BNB token has also roughly halved this year.