US Judge Temporarily Halts $1B Sale of Voyager Digital to Binance US

The proposed $1 billion sale of Voyager Digital to Binance.US has been temporarily suspended by a federal judge in response to a request for an emergency stay from the U.S. government.

The ruling by Judge Jennifer Rearden of the U.S. District Court in New York on March 27 means that the pending deal between the two companies will be put on hold until the Department of Justice's appeal against the bankruptcy plan is resolved.

On March 17, the Department of Justice (DOJ) filed an emergency request to halt the $1 billion sale of Voyager Digital to Binance.US.

This request was challenged by Voyager Digital and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on March 20, and the DOJ responded with a final motion on March 21.

Judge Rearden granted the DOJ's request for an emergency stay on March 27. The judge is expected to release a detailed explanation for the decision soon.

Voyager Digital filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy on July 5 and has been working on a plan to distribute funds.

On March 7, Judge Wiles approved the acquisition of Voyager by Binance.US, which involved issuing bankruptcy tokens to impacted Voyager customers.

Efforts to block the $1 billion sale of Voyager Digital to Binance.US by U.S. regulators have been ongoing.

In fact, the U.S. Securities Exchange Commission argued on March 15 that Voyager's bankruptcy plan could lead to fraud, theft, or tax avoidance. However, Judge Michael Wiles rejected this claim.

Meanwhile, the DOJ filed an emergency stay motion on March 17, which was challenged by Voyager and the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors on March 20.

The latest order by Judge Jennifer Rearden has granted the DOJ's emergency motion, temporarily halting the potential deal between Voyager and Binance.US until a decision is made on the DOJ's appeal against the bankruptcy plan.

Despite this, a poll of 61,300 Voyager account holders released in a Feb 28 court filing showed that over 97% are in favor of the restructuring plan, which is expected to pay out 73% of what customers are owed.

According to Cointelegraph, the Official Committee of Unsecured Creditors has vowed to continue opposing the government's efforts.