Bankrupt cryptocurrency lending firm Voyager Digital disclosed that it received a letter from Binance.US, ending their asset acquisition agreement. In a tweet on Tuesday, Voyager stated, "Today we received a letter from Binance.US terminating the asset purchase agreement. While this development is disappointing, our Chapter 11 plan allows for direct distribution of cash and crypto to customers via the Voyager platform."
Binance.US cited a "hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States" leading to an "unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community" as the reason behind the termination.
Despite concerns that the contract's fine print might excuse breaches of tax or securities law, a significant portion of the $1 billion deal was permitted to proceed by the U.S. government in an April 20 filing. Bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles and the majority of Voyager's creditors who voted approved the deal. A committee representing these creditors in bankruptcy proceedings expressed their "incredible disappointment" and stated that they were "investigating potential claims" against Binance.US.
The U.S. government's legal representatives, including the Securities and Exchange Commission, tried to prevent the deal, arguing that some of the assets involved, such as Voyager's VGX token, could be considered unregistered securities. VGX's value fell about 11%, trading around $0.3144 on Tuesday.
Binance.US' initial offer in December allowed the company to withdraw if the deal was not completed within four months. Voyager's attorneys recently cautioned that the deal's collapse could cost the estate and its over 1 million creditors an additional $100 million.
When asked on Twitter if the deal's termination was related to a potential settlement with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission, which sued parent company Binance for selling unregistered crypto derivative products, CEO Changpeng Zhao responded with a shrugging emoji.