On March 7, United States Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved the sale of roughly $1 billion in assets from bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital to Binance.US. The judge granted authorization after four days of debate between Voyager and the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).
According to a report, Judge Michael Wiles stated that Voyager would be granted permission to proceed with closing the Binance.US sale and payout plan if prices for other cryptocurrencies settle in the upcoming weeks. This plan is expected to give consumers approximately 73% of what they are owed.
Wiles dismissed the claims of the attorneys representing the US SEC that some aspects of the acquisition and payout plan violate federal law. He criticized the SEC lawyers for not explicitly stating that the Commission had concluded that either the strategy or the transaction was illegal.
Wiles stated:
“I cannot put the entire case into indeterminate deep freeze while regulators figure out whether they believe there are problems with the transaction and plan.”
Peter M. Aronoff, an attorney with the US Department of Justice, has stated that federal officials are considering appealing Judge Wiles’ ruling due to concerns raised by the SEC and other federal attorneys. They believe the compensation scheme could potentially undermine future attempts to regulate the cryptocurrency markets.
According to a Binance spokesperson
“Our goal has always been to return customers their cryptocurrency on the fastest timeline possible and empower users to make their own decisions about their own assets. We look forward to completing the transaction and welcoming Voyager customers to Binance.US where they can expect the highest levels of service and support.”
The decision was taken just a day after Judge Wiles declared that no United States government agency, including the SEC, would be allowed to penalize Voyager officials for issuing a potential bankruptcy token.
The SEC stated last month that it believes Voyager’s VGX token may not have been properly registered as a security. Furthermore, the regulatory agency designated Binance US as an unregistered securities exchange, citing that returning assets to US clients via transactions could violate their prohibition on selling unregistered securities.
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