Bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital Holdings has reached an agreement with the U.S. federal government to move forward with a $1 billion plan that would allow Voyager to sell its assets to Binance’s U.S. affiliate.
Voyager, an official committee of unsecured creditors, and the U.S. government have agreed that Binance’s acquisition of Voyager’s digital assets can proceed as planned, according to a document filed in New York District Court on April 19.
The government can proceed to appeal the exemption clauses - conditions it claims allow Voyager to be shielded from certain legal liabilities, the document said. In a series of tweets on April 19, Voyager's official committee of unsecured creditors said all parties agreed to the resolution, provided that "appeals against the plan's release provisions will continue." Previously, trading with Binance.US was temporarily suspended by a federal judge after the U.S. government requested an emergency stay.
While both Voyager and the committee challenged the emergency stay application, Judge Jennifer Rearden granted the U.S. government's request to temporarily stay the proceedings in a March 27 court order. U.S. regulators have tried several times to block the deal since March 7, when U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles cleared it to go ahead, noting that delaying it would harm former Voyager customers who are waiting to receive their funds.
A week later, on March 14, the government asked for a two-week delay in bankruptcy planning. It accused the bankruptcy plan of "making immune to fraud, theft or tax avoidance," but the motion was dismissed by Judge Wiles, who said the allegations were "overblown."
A Feb. 28 court filing revealed that 97% of the 61,300 Voyager account holders favored trading with Binance.US. Since filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July, Voyager has been aggressively taking steps to coordinate plans to reallocate funds to creditors.
