Binance (BNB-USD) is the company everybody in crypto is talking about now. With FTX circling the drain of bankruptcy, Binance has put even more distance between itself and the pack of crypto exchanges trying to catch up with it. And following a lengthy struggle with FTX and the U.S. government, Binance is still picking up the slack as it secures the right to purchase the remaining assets of Voyager Digital.
Sure, Binance hasn’t been only on the up-and-up. It has come into its fair share of roadblocks in the last year. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has kept its foot on the company’s neck with a variety of probes. These investigations search into all manner of Binance’s business, be it the BNB token, potential insider trading violations, and potentially criminal charges of anti-money laundering violations.
Other times, when Binance had attempted to get into the good graces of potential new customers, it backfired. This happened as the company looked to increase its transparency after FTX’s collapse. Noting that the implosion could’ve been avoided had FTX kept a clear balance sheet, Binance sought to introduce its “proof of reserve” audits. However, while the precedent is doing well to uncover suspicious activity across a number of centralized exchanges, Binance itself has suffered from these audits. The company auditing Binance backed out of the partnership before they were finished. This has led to widespread confusion and concern about what mainstream exchange players actually look like behind the curtain.
Luckily, Binance appears to be scoring another win to distract from these shortcomings. After having the door slammed in its face earlier in the fall, the company has won Voyager Digital’s remaining assets.
Binance Wins Voyager Digital Auction Through U.S. Satellite Company
Back in September, Binance was trying to acquire the rights to bankrupt Voyager Digital’s remaining assets. The auction-style sale pitted the crypto exchange against its biggest competitor. When it didn’t win, the company complained of foul play by the U.S. Department of the Treasury. Well, in the aftermath of the FTX implosion, it got a second chance — and won.
Voyager Digital, one of the three crypto companies immediately bankrupted by Terra’s (LUNA-USD) collapse, filed for Chapter 11 protections in July. By September, the court ruled that the company will part out what assets remain in an auction. Of the pack of companies looking to scoop up these assets, the highest two bidders were Binance and FTX. Ultimately, FTX would win the sale with a $1.3 billion bid.
The news came with quite a bit of controversy, and it remains controversial in retrospect. For starters, FTX was bluffing throughout this whole process — it didn’t have nearly the amount of disposable funds Sam Bankman-Fried had claimed it did. That much was evident as the company’s balance sheet came under public scrutiny.
However, Binance has also alleged that the U.S. Treasury played a role in helping FTX to secure its win. According to a Binance spokesperson, the company was asked to put extra money atop its bid by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the U.S. (CFIUS). It asserts it never faced this treatment before. Binance called the treatment part of a crackdown driven by a mischaracterization that it is a Chinese company.
Through all of this struggle though, Binance appears to have won. When FTX went bankrupt, and the assets went on sale once again, it was Binance’s American sister company, Binance.US, who won the assets with a $1.02 billion bid. $20 million of this bid secures the company with the right to purchase the assets. The other $1 billion is what Voyager deems the current market rate of these assets. The final price of the sale remains subject to change.
On the date of publication, Brenden Rearick did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
