- Voyager Digital creditors can expect payouts after the company entered liquidation
- The judge overseeing its bankruptcy agreed to let the firm liquidate following two failed sales
- Voyager has $630 million to pay back claims of around $1.8 billion
Creditors of the bankrupt exchange Voyager Digital won a court ruling yesterday to commence payouts. The ruling means that the company will move from bankruptcy into liquidation following Binance.US pulling out of a takeover deal last month and comes just days after lending platform Blockfi put itself into liquidation. Creditors can expect a little over a third of their claim value to be paid out over time, although this will increase if Voyager wins its case against Alameda Research.
“Nobody is Happy”
Judge Michael Wiles reluctantly granted approval for Voyager’s liquidation procedures yesterday, noting that “nobody is happy with the liquidation.” Creditors have complained about the cost of the bankruptcy, how the case has been handled, and the small return that creditors will receive.
However, Wiles defended the path that Voyager is taking, pointing out that the firm doesn’t have enough to fully repay customers and that it was the only viable option left following the collapsed sales to FTX and Binance.
Voyager has about $630 million in the bank compared to claims of around $1.8 billion, with customers given the option of taking their repayment in crypto or U.S. dollars. FTX’s trading arm Alameda Research has sued Voyager in an attempt to claw back a $445 million loan repayment, which has naturally had a massive impact on the amount that creditors will get back.
If Voyager manages to hold onto the money it would see repayments jump to over 70% of the claim amount.
Voyager Follows Blockfi Path
Judge Wiles noted that while the FTX takeover would have been the best option for everyone, no one could have predicted that the company would turn out to be a “gigantic fraud.” He added that “everybody wishes that something better had happened” but that, “We are where we are, we’re trying to do the best with where we are.”Earlier this week, Blockfi also began liquidation proceedings having realized that a buyout was no longer a viable hope, with its creditors now awaiting their own payouts.
