• Voyager Digital accepted Binance.US’s bid to purchase its assets for over $1 billion, but the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has now objected to the deal.
• The SEC raised some concerns about the Binance takeover and asked for more clarification on the deal, such as how the crypto exchange planned to compensate users of Voyager Digital who still have funds stuck on the platform, and also how the crypto exchange will operate once it takes control of Voyager’s assets.
• Subject to court approval, Binance.US would actually have to complete the purchase by April 18, four months from now, and the SEC is seeking clarification on what the crypto exchange would do if it is unable to close the deal by this date.
Voyager Digital, a crypto lender, had recently accepted a bid from Binance.US to purchase its assets for over $1 billion. This bid came after the collapse of FTX, the exchange that was originally accepted to acquire the lender’s assets. The acquisition was subject to a court hearing scheduled for Thursday, January 5, 2023, but the Securities and Exchanges Commission (SEC) has now filed a limited objection motion against the proposed acquisition of Voyager Digital assets by Binance.US.
The SEC raised a number of concerns about the Binance takeover and asked for more clarification on the deal. Firstly, the regulator wanted to know how the crypto exchange planned to compensate the users of Voyager Digital who still have funds stuck on the platform. It also wanted to know if Binance.US had the financial capability to complete the acquisition of Voyager’s assets. Furthermore, the SEC asked for clarification about how the crypto exchange will operate once it takes control of Voyager’s assets.
The most pressing requirement of the deal is that Binance.US must complete the purchase by April 18, four months from now. The SEC has asked that the crypto exchange clarify what it will do if it is unable to close the deal by this date.
The court hearing on the proposed acquisition of Voyager Digital assets by Binance.US is still scheduled for Thursday, January 5, 2023. It remains to be seen whether the SEC’s objections will be addressed and the deal approved. However, whatever the outcome, it is clear that the SEC is taking a more active role in monitoring the cryptocurrency industry, which could lead to increased regulation of the sector in the future.