The U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an appeal to review a New York judge’s decision to approve the $1 billion sale of assets from bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager to a subsidiary of U.S. cryptocurrency exchange Binance.
The appeal was filed Thursday night in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York through the Office of the U.S. Trustee, according to a court filing. Recall that Judge Michael Wiles recently approved the Voyager-Binance US deal despite objections from US regulators.
CryptoPotato reported earlier this week that a judge ruled in favor of Voyager’s proposed plan to sell its assets to Binance.US in order to maximize value for its stakeholders and creditors.
The deal has been repeatedly opposed by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), because the regulator believes it may involve the sale of unregistered securities. In the SEC's second objection filing, the agency asked to deny the deal as it investigates whether Voyager violated antifraud federal securities laws. The commission also revealed that Binance is being investigated for violating money laundering rules.
Notably, Voyager assets may not be sold without final approval from the SEC and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIU). Both entities currently oppose the plan.
In approving the deal, Judge Wiles criticized the SEC and DOJ, saying they appeared unsure of the legal implications of enforcing the plan after failing to provide clear answers when asked in previous hearings about the reasons behind the objections .
Justice Department attorney Peter M. Aronoff said on the day of the approval that his team is considering appealing the judge's order. If the appeal is allowed and Judge Wiles' decision is reversed, the only option left for Voyager is to liquidate itself. Unfortunately, the liquidation brings less returns than the asset sale plan.
