On April 15, 2021, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) moved to block an attempt by the American franchise of Binance, Binance.US, to buy up assets from the bankrupt crypto lender Voyager Digital. The SEC argued that more information was needed before it could approve the deal. Let’s take a look at what this means for Binance.US and why the SEC is taking action to prevent the acquisition from going through.
1/ Today, @BinanceUS was selected highest and best bid in Voyager’s reopened bankruptcy asset auction. Once the deal is completed, Voyager users will finally be able to access their digital assets on the https://t.co/Wc26vMosC4 platform.
Read: https://t.co/gBK5m3kcYn
— Brian Shroder (@BrianShroder) December 19, 2022
What Does This Mean for Binance.US?
If approved, the acquisition would have given Binance access to Voyager Digital’s customer accounts and assets, including cryptocurrencies held in those accounts. This would have enabled Binance to expand its reach in North America and potentially strengthen its position as one of the leading cryptocurrency exchanges in the world. However, the SEC is now blocking this move due to concerns about how those assets are being managed and transferred between companies.
Why is the SEC Taking Action?
The SEC has raised concerns about how Voyager Digital’s customers will be impacted if their assets are transferred to Binance without proper disclosure of details about how those assets will be managed and secured once they are acquired by Binance. The SEC is concerned that these customers may not understand all of the risks associated with their assets being held by a new company and that they may lack sufficient protection if something goes wrong with the transfer process or with Binance’s management of those assets once they are acquired. Additionally, since many of these customers are located overseas, there could be additional legal complications regarding who has jurisdiction over their funds should something go wrong with either company’s handling of them.
Ultimately, it looks like we will have to wait until more information is released before we can fully understand why the SEC has taken action against this acquisition attempt by Binance.US. Until then, we can only speculate on what impact this decision will have on both companies involved in this transaction as well as their customers who may be affected by it if it does go through at some point down the line. What remains clear though is that when it comes to cryptocurrency regulation in America, there continues to exist a great deal of uncertainty and complexity—and there’s no telling what will happen next!
