FTX US wins the auction for bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital's assets with a bid valued at ~$1.4B, including an “additional consideration” worth ~$111M
FTX US, the digital-asset exchange founded by billionaire Sam Bankman-Fried, won the auction for the assets of bankrupt crypto brokerage Voyager Digital Ltd.
Bloomberg
Context & Ripple Effects
Voyager had already taken a $485M financing package from Alameda before its asset auction, tying Bankman-Fried's crypto businesses to the broker well before FTX US emerged as buyer. Binance had reportedly put forward a competing offer, making the auction a contest for Voyager's remaining customer relationships and assets.
The bid's structure matters as much as its headline value: later court records broke it into $51M of cash and up to $60M of onboarding-linked incentives for Voyager users. That makes the transaction partly a recovery plan and partly a customer-transfer deal.
First-order effects
Voyager's estate gets a defined FTX US proposal, including immediate cash and incentives contingent on customers joining FTX US, rather than relying solely on the stated $1.4B valuation.
FTX US gains the right to pursue Voyager's assets and user base, while Binance's reported competing bid is displaced.
Second-order effects
The onboarding-contingent portion of the bid makes Voyager customers central to realized value, putting pressure on FTX US to convert users rather than merely acquire bankruptcy assets.
Binance's unsuccessful offer establishes that distressed crypto broker assets can attract competing exchange bids, with customer migration terms becoming a differentiator alongside price.
Third-order effects
The later end of the FTX-Voyager sale process shows that a bankruptcy auction winner is not necessarily a durable buyer; counterparty viability can override the initial bid result.
Voyager's subsequent $1.022B Binance.US agreement points to a more conditional market for failed-platform assets, where court approval and the buyer's ability to close shape outcomes as much as auction valuation.
The trend: Crypto insolvency sales are evolving from simple asset auctions into customer-transfer transactions whose value depends on buyer viability and successful onboarding.
Today, after a competitive auction aimed at returning maximum value to customers, @FTX_Official US was selected as the highest and best bidder. Press release linked below. More information about what this agreement means for customers to follow. https://www.newswire.ca/...
This seems far from ideal. Hard to determine what it means for creditors, but assumption is voyager is finished, customers go to FTX and we all get a fraction of our holdings back - potentially in USD and not coins. Hope I'm wrong. https://www.newswire.ca/...
If one were to believe that much of the recent BTC price action under 20k was to let FTX low-ball bid the Voyager crypto assets (remember those cryptic sniping CZ tweets?), there may be some incentive to delay any crypto price recovery until the deal is approved in mid-October 🤔 …
FTX WINS VOYAGER BID: FTX US's bid is valued at approximately $1.422 billion, comprised of (i) the fair market value of all Voyager cryptocurrency at a to-be-determined date in the future, which at current market prices is estimated to be $1.311 billion... https://twitter.com/...
plus (ii) additional consideration that is estimated as providing approximately $111 million of incremental value. The Company's claims against Three Arrows Capital remain with the bankruptcy estate, which will distribute any available recovery on such claims to the creditors.
Alright FTX won the auction for Voyager All we got rn is this press release which appears to indicate they are buying Voyager's assets for $1.42B. Of that, $1.31B is the market value of their crypto. Remaining is “additional consideration of $110M” https://www.newswire.ca/...
Lol.. What a surprise! @davidgerard, are you as shocked as I am? FTX went from lowest and worst bidder to highest and best bidder... so many bidders! https://twitter.com/...
If I were @investvoyager creditor & @FTX_Official did not give me a plan to make me whole, I'd push @VoyagerUCC hard to get equity. @SBF_FTX you pledged to give 99% of your money to causes - I've spoken to many who's lives were ruined by this. Why not fill their hole? WIN / WIN h…
FTX has been on an acquisition tear and is well on its way to consolidating the fractured crypto market. Recent deals for clearing firm Embed, trading platform Bitvo and it has an option to buy crypto lender BlockFi. In Voyager, it's basically buying customers.