Binance.US has been selected by Voyager Digital as the “highest and best bid” for its assets as part of its Chapter 11 bankruptcy proceedings, the company said on Dec. 19. The deal is valued at $1.022 billion for Voyager’s existing portfolio and “incremental value.”
On Dec. 19, Binance.US announced in a blog post the agreement “sets a clear path forward for Voyager customers’ funds to be unlocked as soon as possible, and returned to them in the form of the cryptocurrencies previously held in their Voyager accounts.”
The deal is valued at $1.022 billion, which values Voyager’s existing portfolio at $1.002 billion, plus $20 million of “incremental value.”
“We hope our selection brings to an end a painful bankruptcy process which saw customers unfairly dragged into it at no fault of their own,” Binance.US’ CEO and president Brian Shroder said in the statement.
Further, Voyager will need approval in bankruptcy court to enter into an asset purchase agreement with Binance.US at a hearing scheduled for January 5.
According to Schroder, Voyager customers will be able to access future disbursements of their crypto holdings through the Binance.US platform from the Voyager bankruptcy estate after closing the deal.
Previously, Voyager approved a bid for FTX to acquire its customer deposit accounts in a deal valued at $1.42 billion struck in September. However, the offer was being reviewed by the Texas Securities Board before it fell through in November after FTX declared bankruptcy.
Following the FTX collapse, the main company, Binance has faced heightened scrutiny. Binance.US is a separate legal entity with a licensing agreement from major crypto exchange Binance. It is majority owned by Binance’s CEO Changpeng Zhao. According to data from crypto indexing platform Nomics, Binance.US is the 12th largest crypto exchange by spot market trading volume in North America.