Binance and FTX are said to have made top bids of around $50 million each for the assets of the bankrupt crypto lending firm Voyager Digital.
According to a Wall Street Journal report citing sources familiar with the matter on Tuesday, Binance’s current bid is slightly higher than FTX’s. According to the WSJ’s sources, neither offer has been accepted yet.
Voyager, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in July of this year with up to $10 billion in liabilities, began selling its assets at the beginning of this month.
The auction for the assets of the New York-based firm began on September 13. Wave Financial, a digital asset manager, and trading platform CrossTower are said to be among the other bidders.
The winning bid is expected to be announced on September 29, though it could be announced sooner.
FTX and Voyager
Voyager was one of the most high-profile cryptocurrency companies to fail during this year’s market crash. The firm’s demise occurred shortly after one of its largest debtors, Singapore-based crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), declared bankruptcy in July, putting user funds at risk.
3AC owed Voyager over $650 million in Bitcoin and USDC, the stablecoin.
Alameda Research, a crypto trading firm founded by crypto billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, who also owns FTX, was another borrower. At the time of the bankruptcy filing, Alameda owed the New York-based firm approximately $377 million in cryptocurrency.
Just before Voyager declared bankruptcy in June, Alameda extended two credit lines to the company, one for $200 million in cash and the other for 15,000 Bitcoin. When it declared bankruptcy, Alameda was Voyager’s largest creditor with an unsecured $75 million loan.
Earlier this week, Alameda agreed to repay approximately $200 million in Bitcoin and Ethereum in exchange for $160 million in collateral held by Voyager. FTX announced plans to acquire the troubled crypto lender shortly after its bankruptcy; however, Voyager dismissed the proposed rescue deal, calling it “a low-ball bid dressed up as a white knight rescue.”
