Judge denies DOJ request to halt Binance.US-Voyager deal
- A judge at the New York bankruptcy court denied the Department of Justice’s request on Wednesday.
- The DOJ wanted the court to stop Binance.US from completing its $1 billion deal for Voyager.
- Judge Michael E. Wiles said pausing the deal pending government appeal would only hurt Voyager clients.
Binance.US, the US-regulated subsidiary of the world’s largest cryptocurrency exchange by trading volume Binance, should go ahead to complete its $1 billion acquisition of Voyager Digital, a bankruptcy judge has ruled.
In a court ruling on Wednesday, Michael E. Wiles, United States Bankruptcy Judge at the Southern District of New York court, denied the US government’s request to halt Binance.US’ bid for Voyager, citing the impact this is having on customers of the bankrupt crypto lender.
Judge rules Binance.US-Voyager deal to go ahead
The US Department of Justice appealed Judge Wiles’ ruling that allowed Voyager to sell its assets to Binance.US, a decision the bankruptcy judge gave on 9 March this year. In its appeal via the US Trustee’s Office, the DOJ wanted the acquisition halted until a number of legal objections were settled.
According to the government, allowing the process to continue as determined by the court could see Voyager and its staff likely absolved of tax or securities laws violations.
But in his ruling, Judge Wiles noted that the $1 billion deal that he approved last week does not include such exemptions. He added that halting the process will only hurt Voyager customers even further, with people having waited for an opportunity to access their crypto assets since the company stopped withdrawals in July last 2022.
BNB price jumps 6% after the news
Binance.US was approved to acquire Voyager for $1 billion in December 2022, as CoinJournal reported. The deal appeared to be hitting the rocks before the bankruptcy court allowed it to proceed.
Now, following the latest ruling, an agreement between Voyager and Binance has the deal set for execution on 20 March, having originally been slated for 15 March.
The reaction to the news from the Binance community saw the price of the native BNB token jump 6% to $328 as of 11:00 am ET on Thursday. The Voyager VGX token, which rallied following last week’s court ruling, was also up today, trading 9% higher at $0.344700.
