April 25 (Reuters) – Binance.US has called off its $1.3 billion deal to buy assets of bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital, citing a “hostile and uncertain regulatory climate.”
In a court filing on Tuesday, lawyers for Voyager said the company reserves all rights with respect to a $10 million good-faith deposit paid by Binance.US to Voyager, as well as a reverse-termination fee owed by Binance.US.
“The hostile and uncertain regulatory climate in the United States has introduced an unpredictable operating environment impacting the entire American business community,” a spokesperson for Binance.US said in a statement. “We are focused on creating a safe platform where our customers can participate in the digital asset economy.”
The move adds another hurdle for Voyager, which has been looking to raise funds through an asset sale to repay creditors after it collapsed into bankruptcy last year. The company had initially agreed to sell its assets to major digital asset exchange FTX, but that deal fell apart when FTX imploded in November.
Binance.US stepped in later, but the acquisition was clouded by regulatory opposition. Last month, a federal judge temporarily stopped Voyager from completing the proposed deal, allowing the U.S. government more time to pursue challenges.
Voyager said following Binance.US’s termination of the asset purchase agreement it would proceed to exercise an option to return cryptocurrency and cash directly to its customers through the Voyager platform.
Reporting by Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Shinjini Ganguli
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