Digital Asset Exchange FTX Wins the Battle for Voyager’s Assets

FTX.US, the U.S. arm of global crypto exchange FTX, has emerged as the highest and best bidder to buy the assets of crypto lender Voyager Digital out of bankruptcy. 

Per details of the transaction agreement revealed in a press release from Voyager, FTX US’s bid is valued at approximately $1.422 billion. The bid consists of the fair market value of all Voyager cryptocurrency which is estimated to be currently priced at about $1.311 billion but will be finally evaluated at a yet-to-be-determined date and additional consideration that is estimated as providing around $111 million of incremental value. 

Interested parties have till October 12 to file an objection to the deal. The asset purchase agreement between Voyager and FTX will be presented for approval to the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on October 19. 

Following Bankruptcy Court approval, Voyager will proceed with a creditor vote and other customary closing conditions to consummate the sale to FTX pursuant to the chapter 11 plan. The release added that additional information about the timeline and customer access to their crypto will be shared as it becomes available. 

“FTX US’s bid maximizes value and minimizes the remaining duration of the Company’s restructuring by providing a clear path forward for the Debtors to consummate a chapter 11 plan and return value to their customers and other creditors,” the press release said.

The bidding process which was actively participated in by the Official Committee of Uncensored Creditors (UCC) was made possible by Voyager’s chapter 11 bankruptcy filing back in July. This filing enabled Voyager to enter a voluntary restructuring process aimed at returning maximum value to customers.  

A glimmer of hope for trapped Voyager users? 

Voyager’s crash was brought on by the crash of crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC) to which it had loaned about 60% of its holdings. 3AC had itself gone belly up after the crash of the Terra ecosystem tokens classic LUNA and classic Terra USD. 

The successful agreement with FTX indicates that all hope is not lost for investors who have had their crypto assets locked up on the platform. As of now, it is unclear if Voyager’s customers will get all or only part of their trapped funds out of the platform when the asset purchase agreement is completed. 

Meanwhile, the deal is only the latest success FTX is recording in its mission to be the lender of last resort in the crypto market. It had previously rescued BlockFi from bankruptcy. FTX co-founder and CEO Sam Bankman-Fried (Kwon online as SBF) revealed recently to CNBC that the exchange still has enough funds to deploy in rescuing struggling crypto firms.