Voyager to return $270M in customer funds, says it received 'better' offers than FTX

The crypto lender will be allowed to return a portion of customer funds locked up at the Metropolitan Commercial Bank which have been frozen until now.

Beleaguered crypto lender Voyager Digital Holdings says it has received a number of “higher and better” buyout offers than that offered by AlamedaFTX back in July, contrary to the investment firm's continued public statements. 

The company has also just been cleared to return $270 million in customer funds held at the Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB) by the judge presiding over its bankruptcy proceedings in New York.

In a Second Day Hearing Presentation on Thursday, Voyager stated that it has received word from as many as 88 interested parties keen to bailout the company from its financial woes, adding it is in “active discussions” with over 20 potentially interested parties.

One of the most high-profile bids came from Alameda and FTX in July.

Alameda had proposed to buy all of Voyager’s assets and outstanding loans except the defaulted loan to Three Arrows Capital, then liquidate the assets and distribute funds in USD through the FTX US exchange.

This was rejected by Voyager on July 25 on the grounds that it was not “value-maximizing” for its customers. 

 The company also noted that it has already received bids through the marketing process that are “higher and better than AlamedaFTX’s proposal,” contrary to alleged “inaccurate” public statements from AlamediaFTX. 

Voyager stated that it has also separately sent AlamedaFTX a cease and desist letter regarding its “inaccurate” public statements, confirming that AlamedaFTX does not have a “leg up” on other bidders. 

$270M in customer funds returned

News about other interested bidders comes at the same time that U.S. Bankruptcy Court Judge Michael Wiles has given Voyager the all-clear to return a portion of its customer’s cash deposits.

According to a Thursday report from the Wall Street Journal, Wiles stated that Voyager had provided a “sufficient basis” for its claim that customers should be granted access to the custodial account held at the Metropolitan Commercial Bank, which is understood to hold $270 million in cash.

[DB] Voyager secures approval to return $270 million in customer cash: WSJ

— db (@tier10k) August 4, 2022

Voyager had funds stashed in the account at the bank when it filed for bankruptcy on July 5. Those funds were frozen when bankruptcy proceedings began.

Related: Deposits at non-bank entities, including crypto firms, are not insured — FDIC

Voyager Digital CEO Stephen Ehrlich mentioned in July that he intended to return customer funds from MCB as soon as a “reconciliation and fraud prevention process” was completed, and the firm reportedly asked to have the funds in the MCB released on July 15.

Voyager’s debt amounts to a sum no greater than $10 billion from roughly 100,000 creditors, but is not the only such brokerage, lender or investment firm in crypto to have fallen on hard times for itself and its users. Celsius, Three Arrows Capital, BlockFi and others have also been swept up in the ongoing saga.