FTX and Binance were pursuing the purchase of Voyager. In July, FTX submitted a proposal for Voyager, which was turned down as a “low-ball offer.”
Early in July, Voyager stopped allowing consumers to withdraw their money as cryptocurrency values fell. Then, as creditors of the firm in bankruptcy court, its clients were compelled to line up alongside experienced restructuring attorneys and financiers as inexperienced participants in a potentially lengthy procedure in order to recover their cash.
The assets of Voyager were put up for auction this week through the bankruptcy court. The billionaire Sam Bankman-FTX Fried’s exchange and Wave Financial, a digital asset investment company, squared off in the last round.
FTX steals the show
Sam Bankman-billionaire-founded Fried’s digital asset exchange, FTX US, won the bidding for the assets of defunct crypto firm Voyager Digital Ltd.
According to a statement released by Voyager Digital on Monday in New York, the arrangement is worth roughly $1.4 billion, made up of an “extra compensation” of about $111 million and the $1.3 billion market value of every cryptocurrency held by the insolvent company.
After the bankruptcy process is through, customers will be able to switch to the FTX US platform, according to Voyager, who also stated that the acquisition agreement would be submitted to the court on October 19 for approval.
The acquisition comes after multiple prior attempts by Sam Bankman’s exchange to rescue or buy Voyager. At the end of March, the New York-based network had 1.19 million funded accounts and around 3.5 million users.
After an unsuccessful attempt by Alameda Research, a trading firm connected to FTX, to save Voyager with a revolving line of credit, the company filed for bankruptcy protection in July.
Alameda said in September that it will pay back the $200 million in BTC and ETH it had acquired from Voyager by month end.
Bankman-Fried has been relentlessly acquiring struggling cryptocurrency businesses this year, snatching up millions of users and priceless technology for less than they were worth.
Earlier this year, FTX supported the cryptocurrency platform BlockFi and was considering buying out Robinhood Markets Inc.
The current auction which ended up in Sam Bankman’s favor lasted for two weeks.