Voyager-Binance.US Legal Fight Must Be Resolved by April 13, Court Documents Say

Voyager and its creditors stand to lose $100 million if legal objections brought by the U.S. government are not resolved by April 13, according to legal documents filed late Monday night.

The bankrupt crypto lender is taking urgent legal action to let a $1 billion purchase by Binance.US go ahead, fearful that ongoing quibbles over the contractual drafting could see the exchange pull out.

“Consummation of the plan by April 13 is necessary to preserve massive creditor value,” said a filing by Voyager’s creditors. “The evidence is uncontroverted that, if the deal is not completed, Voyager’s creditors will lose roughly $100 million in value.”

A parallel filing made by Voyager itself, also to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, said there would be a price tag of $10 million per month for any delay, and that over 1 million customers wouldn’t be able to access savings.

Under the terms of the deal, originally signed in December and approved by bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles in March, Binance.US can back out if the agreement isn’t closed within four months.

Lawyers for the U.S. government have protested that the detailed terms of the contract would effectively absolve the company from breaches of tax or securities law, and last week, District Judge Jennifer Rearden agreed to put the deal on hold while the issue is settled. In March, the Securities and Exchange Commission sought to argue that assets involved in the transfer such as the Voyager token VGX could constitute unregistered securities, but was rebuffed by Wiles.

Binance.US did not immediately respond to a request for comment from CoinDesk. On March 3, Binance’s Chief Executive Officer Changpeng Zhao tweeted to suggest he could pull out of the deal in view of legal delays, before adding that he still supported the deal to return funds to customers.

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