Binance.US’s $1B Deal May Not Benefit Voyager Creditors: Texas Regulations

Paigambar Mohan Raj
Source: Forbes

As per a court filing on Friday, Texas regulators contend that asset liquidation might be the best option for Voyager’s creditors. Furthermore, the regulators cautioned that a potential buyer Binance.US, might provide securities through its staking program, which would violate the law.

However, the biggest issue is creditors’ recovery from the deal with Binance.US acquiring the insolvent cryptocurrency firm depends on a $445 million loan claim by Alameda Research. The recovery could drop from 51% to 24%–26% if Alameda successfully demonstrates its administrative expense claim. This would mean the sum paid to claimants may be less than the anticipated amount.

According to Voyager lawyers, the Binance.US sale has strong backing from creditors. Yet, according to the Texas filing, they did not disclose any risks from Alameda Research. The filing also noted that customers were not informed that personal data could be transmitted to foreign jurisdictions.

The SEC (Securities and Exchange Commission) has also opposed Binance.US’ deal to purchase the bankrupt firm. As per the SEC, the proposal could be illegal and discriminatory.

Is Binance.US offering illegal securities?

Concerns with Binance’s economic strategy were also covered in the filing. The document was submitted to a bankruptcy court in the southern district of New York.

Joe Rotunda, Director of Enforcement at the Texas Securities Commission, claimed that the staking program used by Binance.US is different from other crypto exchanges. He added that Binance.US’s program might be an illegal securities offering.

The filing noted that although Binance.US explicitly stated to its consumers that it was striving to obtain a license in Texas, the exchange has never applied for a license with the SSB (State Securities Board). Moreover, the firm abandoned its application with the DOB (Department of Banking) a year later due to a lack of financial data.