- 97% of the lender’s creditors have approved the plan
- Judge snubbed the Securities and Exchange Commission and its objections
New York bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles approved the deal between Binance.US and insolvent crypto lender Voyager Digital, which is worth over $1 billion, CoinDesk reported.
97% of the lender’s creditors approve the plan
The exchange’s US arm still has some regulatory hurdles to clear before they can finalize the deal. However, 97% of the lender’s creditors have approved the plan, which was put together after FTX declared bankruptcy. Previously, FTX had bid to acquire Voyager’s assets.
If the plan is implemented, creditors could recover up to 75% of their holdings in the bankrupt lender. The previous estimate was just 51% due to bear market conditions.
Alameda Research’s potential claims
Regulators from the states of New Jersey and Texas warned those advantages could be significantly curbed if Alameda Research managed to recover loan repayments of $445 million made before they filed for bankruptcy in November.
On March 7, the fourth day of the hearing, Judge Wiles discarded their warnings and emphasized the need to start restructuring the beleaguered lender.
Binance isn’t allowed everywhere
Creditors raised issues such as the treatment of exotic cryptos and dealing with customers in states where Binance is banned, such as Texas, New York, Hawaii, and Vermont.
Judge snubs SEC
Judge Wiles also snubbed the Securities and Exchange Commission and its objections to the deal. There are indications that Voyager and the Federal Trade Commission made a deal to avoid interfering with a misleading marketing investigation.
The judge stated that if SEC claimed Voyager's offering of VGX tokens was a security sale, they should have asserted this claim earlier. Instead, the regulators bided their time according to evidence provided during the hearing. As a result, the judge had "no choice" but to rule that the offering was completely legal.
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