Voyager Digital (CSE/VYGR, OTCQX/VYGVF), has received initial court approval to accept Binance.US’s US$1bn bid on the assets of the bankrupt crypto lender after New York Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved the asset purchase agreement.
Binance.US, the subsidiary of Binance.US, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the world, indicated its intent to purchase the assets of the bankrupt lender at the tail-end of 2022.
Numerous regulators scrutinised the deal, including the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States. (CFIUS) conducted a national security assessment into the acquisition during the holiday period.
CFIUS was established by Joe Biden as a review of foreign investment in the US. Although the US President did not provide any details about the security risks, the New York Attorney’s Office stated that it could stop the deal.
Changpeng Zhao, Binance founder and Canadian citizen, was born in China but has no connection to the country. Zhao spoke out against the undue suspect he attracted.
In a blog post, he stated that “the inference is that we have ethnically Chinese workers, and maybe because I am ethnically Chinese,” and added that we were secretly in the pockets of the Chinese government. “We are an easy target of special interests, media and policymakers who hate our industry.”
Zhao stated, “I am a Canadian citizen. Period.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), also put a wrench in the works, when it filed an objection to the New York Bankruptcy Court (4 January).
The regulator questioned Binance.US’s capability to close the US$1bn transaction.
Binance’s rival FTX, which was founded by Sam Bankman-Fried, had originally planned to purchase the assets of the lender before it filed for bankruptcy.