Binance.US Wins Court Approval To Buy Bankrupt Voyager Digital Assets

Amid all the back-and-forth over the last week, Binance.US has finally got the approval to acquire the assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital. On Tuesday, March 7, Michael Wiles, a bankruptcy judge in the Southern District of New York, overruled all the objections while ruling in favor of the sale.

Under the guidance of the US court, Voyager will sell a total of $1 billion worth of assets to Binance. After Voyager went bankrupt last year, Binance was keen on acquiring the platform’s assets. However, Binance.US had a tough time dealing with the US regulators, especially the SEC.

Last week, reports circulated that Binance was planning to drop the deal amid regulatory pressure. Crypto exchanges like Binance have been facing the heat of growing regulatory scrutiny in the US. Binance chief Changpeng Zhao also confirmed the win by tweeting: “Protect users. Build and build. FUD is temporary.”

Voyager to Reimburse Users

As part of its deal with Binance.US. Voyager Digital plans to reimburse users who lost their money when the crypto lender went bankrupt. Although Binance.US secured the confirmation order from the court, it still has to clear a few regulatory hurdles.

Previously, the SEC said that Voyager sending its assets could breach U.S. securities laws. In the court decision yesterday, Judge Michael Wiles stated:

“I cannot put the entire case into indeterminate deep freeze while regulators figure out whether they believe there are problems with the transaction and plan”.

The judge further expressed his dissatisfaction over the SEC’s decision to stop the sale. The U.S. Department of Justice shall be reviewing the decision by judge Judge Michael Wiles before it takes effect.

The U.S. SEC has also stated that the proposed sale of VGX tokens by Voyager may account for securities laws. On this, judge Wiles said “If the government wants to litigate that,” it should have done so. Since the regulators didn’t choose to do it, Wiles has “no choice” but to rule that the transactions were all legal.

During yesterday’s hearing credits also quizzed Voyager’s financial advisers over how they plan to deal with customers in states like Texas, New York, Vermont, and Hawaii, wherein Binance.US doesn’t have regulatory approval to operate.