Binance Abandons $1 Billion Voyager Deal, Blames Challenging US Regulations
Binance.US has pulled out of the $1.3 billion deal to buy bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, citing a "hostile" regulatory climate in the United States.
In a Tuesday tweet, the US arm of cryptocurrency exchange Binance revealed that it has exercised its right to terminate the asset purchase agreement with Voyager. It added:
"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 United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community."
In a separate Twitter thread, Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital announced that it has received a letter from Binance.US, terminating the asset purchase deal.
"While this development is disappointing, our Chapter 11 plan allows for direct distribution of cash and crypto to customers via the Voyager platform," the company added.
Voyager noted that it will proceed with direct distributions in a bid to return value to customers. The crypto lender said it will provide more information on the next steps and any actions customers need to take in the coming days.
Binance.US' offer, originally made in December, would value Voyager at $1 billion, although the actual cash price that Binance.US needs to pay is just around $20 million, in addition to repayments to Voyager's customers.
As per estimates, Voyager users could have recovered 73% of the value of their deposits if the deal was finalized.
Meanwhile, some Twitter users speculated that the abandonment of the deal was linked to an upcoming settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which has sued parent exchange Binance over selling unregistered crypto derivative
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