Customers of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager Digital received a little victory in court on Thursday morning when a U.S. Bankruptcy Judge approved Voyager’s motion to return $270 million in cash that customers had with Metropolitan Commercial Bank (MCB).
The case’s primary issue, however, which is whether crypto assets on Voyager’s platform belong to users or the insolvent corporation, is still up for debate and may eventually be resolved by presiding Judge Michael Wiles.
Key Highlights:
- Voyager has been permitted by a U.S. bankruptcy court to restore hundreds of millions of dollars to its clients.
- Voyager’s share price on the OTC market in the U.S. rose more than 41% on the day shortly before markets closed.
Voyager and other cryptocurrency lenders witnessed a spike in activity during the COVID-19 outbreak, attracting depositors with high-interest rates and easy access to loans that traditional banks seldom provided. The current downturn in cryptocurrency markets, spurred on by the collapse of two necessary tokens in May, has, nevertheless, been bad for lenders.
Nevertheless, Voyager said in a presentation at the Second Day Hearing on Thursday that it has heard from up to 88 interested parties who wanted to help the firm out of its financial binds and that it is currently in “active conversations” with more than 20 other parties who could be interested.
Alameda and FTX made one of the most well-known bids in July.
What had happened previously?
On July 22, cryptocurrency exchange FTX and West Realm Shires together proposed to provide early-access liquidity to Voyager clients by purchasing the company’s remaining digital assets and debts. Customers were allowed to sign up for an account on FTX’s platform, giving them access to some of their frozen cash.
Later, Voyager rejected bids by the businesses of FTX CEO Sam Bankman-Fried to buy the assets of the crypto lender, branding it a “lowball proposal disguised as a white knight rescue.”
