- Alameda Research is trying to get $445 million in loan repayments back from Voyager Digital
- Voyager lent Alameda the company the money shortly before it filed for bankruptcy, which it repaid
- Alameda is trying to claw back the repayments using bankruptcy rules
The trading unit of bankrupt exchange FTX, Alameda Research, is suing Voyager Digital for $445 million over loan repayments following Voyager’s own bankruptcy protection filing. The lawsuit, filed in a Delaware federal bankruptcy court, could potentially grow in amount if further evidence of payments is discovered. Alameda is also seeking repayment of legal fees and claims Voyager invested clients’ money with little or no due diligence. Binance is in the process of buying out Voyager, following the collapse of FTX, the original buyer.
Alameda Using Bankruptcy Laws to Reclaim Funds
The issue stems from a $445 million loan that Voyager Digital issued to Alameda Research shortly before it filed for bankruptcy in July 2022. Alameda repaid the loans shortly before its own bankruptcy filing last November, with this action aimed at trying to get the funds back using bankruptcy rules designed to ensure some creditors aren’t favored over others.
Relations between the two companies have become fraught in recent weeks due to the proposed takeover of Voyager by Binance, the company that former FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried has said purposefully toyed with FTX during the potential takeover period before ditching the ideas to rid the space of competition. FTX US had been due to buy out Voyager, but this went south when it collapsed, leaving Binance with a clear field.
Binance Deal Fuels Animosity
At the start of the year, Alameda launched a series of criticisms at the proposed Binance takeover, saying the $1 billion acquisition deal “ignores fundamental requirements and protections of the Bankruptcy Code”, with particular note to the “$445 million of preference payments” made by Alameda to Voyager.
In response, Voyager last week called the criticisms “frivolous” and accused Alameda of “hypocrisy and chutzpah at its finest,” pointing to how the firm has defrauded its debtors and “most of the world.”
The bad blood, and Alameda’s desire to see that it gets its money back, has led to this lawsuit, which also alleges that Voyager acted as “feeder fund” and invested money without proper due diligence, contributing to the collapse of Alameda and FTX. The filing claims that crypto lenders like Voyager “funded Alameda and fueled that alleged misconduct, either knowingly or recklessly,” lawyers for FTX and Alameda wrote in the filing.
