The process of selling the assets currently undergoing bankruptcy proceedings of the crypto broker Voyager Digital to the Binance.US exchange has been temporarily halted. This is stated in судебных документах.
On March 17, the U.S. Department of Justice filed a motion for an emergency stay on the deal. On March 20, Voyager Digital challenged this motion, but a day later the department filed a counter-appeal.
The presiding judge, Jennifer Riordan, ruled:
«After considering the written submissions of all parties, as well as the conferences and oral arguments held on this matter, I hereby grant the government’s emergency motion».
In December 2022, Binance.US proposed the highest bid for Voyager’s assets — $1.02 billion.
However, regulators, including the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and the New York State Department of Financial Services, opposed the deal.
During the hearings on the case, SEC officials stated that the American subsidiary of Binance operates an unregistered securities exchange.
The U.S. Department of Justice also opposed the purchase by the platform’s U.S. subsidiary.
U.S. Attorney for the Southern District of New York Damian Williams noted that the agreement between the companies effectively rehabilitates Voyager and its employees after breaches of the Securities Act.
In March 2023, Lookonchain experts recorded a liquidation of the broker’s assets for roughly $56 million. Later, Voyager Digital sent $27.7 million in digital assets to the Coinbase exchange.
On March 27, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFTC) filed a lawsuit against Binance and its CEO Changpeng Zhao. The regulator accused the crypto exchange of “willful evasion of U.S. law” and non-compliance with rules.
In response, Zhao stated that the CFTC’s allegations contain “incomplete statements of facts,” and that his company does not agree with the characterizations of many points.