Binance.US’ potential $1bn acquisition of bankrupt Voyager Digital’s assets has been called off.
After confirming the decision via a letter yesterday, a major factor cited by Binance.US was the “hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States”, which is a result of the Securities and Exchange Commission‘s (SEC) intensified crackdown on crypto firms that they believe are circulating unregistered securities.
The SEC and the US Department of Justice (DOJ) were also opposed to Binance.US’ acquisition of Voyager, believing that Voyager’s VGX token asset fell under their remit of unregistered securities.
Ultimately, the judge presiding over Voyager’s bankruptcy case, judge Michael Wiles, grew sceptical of the SEC’s and DOJ’s opposition to the deal, previously stating: “I get the feeling that this objection has been made as a kind of cover, so you can say later that we’ll see we raised these issues. You haven’t really, you have done nothing, I need to know specifics.”
Wiles even gave the greenlight for the $1bn purchase alongside Voyager creditors, but Binance.US decided to conclude their pursuit over the current US crypto regulation climate, which has only been further fuelled by Coinbase filing a lawsuit against the SEC.
Voyager confirmed the pullout via its Twitter account.
Creditors of the bankruptcy hearings were believed to be “incredibly disappointed” upon the news of Binance.US’ pullout and “investigating potential claims” against the crypto exchange.
Binance.US’ parent company, Binance, is also the subject of a lawsuit battle with the US Commodity Futures Trading Commission (CFC) over allegedly circulating unregistered assets, violating US federal law.
