US trustee appeals NY Judge’s approval of Voyager deal with Binance.US

The United States Department of Justice filed an appeal against the approval by a New York judge allowing a billion-dollar sale of assets from Voyager Digital to Binance.US.

The United States Department of Justice (DOJ) has filed an appeal against the latest decision in the case for the selling of assets between Voyager Digital and Binance.US.

On March 8, the U.S. Trustee for Region 2 made the appeal to the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against the approval of Voyager Digital’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy plan.

The Chapter 11 plan was confirmed only a day prior, on March 7, by U.S. bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles. This plan would have allowed the former crypto brokerage company to sell billions of dollars in assets to Binance.US in an effort to regain liquidity to pay back customers. 

After Wiles told Bloomberg that he could not put the case into an “indeterminate deep freeze while regulators figure out whether they believe there are problems with the transaction and plan.“

He also reportedly said that through the current plan, “Voyager’s customers would see an estimated 73% recovery.” Moreover, a poll released in a court filing on Feb. 28 revealed that 97% of Voyager customers favor the Binance.US deal. 

Related: US lawmakers argue SEC accounting policy places crypto customers at risk

Nonetheless, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has been outspokenly against this deal. The financial regulator said the asset restructuring plan and Binance.US’ acquisition could breach securities law.

In a court filing from Feb. 24, the Texas State Securities Board and the Department of Banking objected to the deal with Binance.US.

If U.S. regulators successfully block this deal, Voyager can liquidate. The initial bankruptcy was filed on July 5, 2022, as the brokers attempted to restructure and “return value” to more than 100,000 customers.