In December, it was announced that Binance had reached an agreement with Voyager to acquire the latter. Not long after, the US Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) made it clear that it had reservations about this. Now the SEC official objection filed against the acquisition by Binance. According to the committee, the takeover of Voyager is unlawful.
SEC hinders Binance takeover
Binance wants to take over the more than $ 1 billion in assets of the bankrupt crypto broker Voyager. According to the SEC, one element of the acquisition, namely Voyager’s VGX tokens, qualifies as an unregistered security.
“The transaction of crypto assets, and redistribution among token holders, as part of the acquisition violates Section 5 of the security act of 1933 regarding the offer or sale of securities.”
According to the SEC’s official objection. In brief; the planning regarding the acquisition that Binance is planning is not according to the rules. The SEC has long targeted Binance. For example, it already went after its stablecoin BUSD. The exchange has also been accused of multiple past violations, including money laundering and corruption.
In addition to the SEC, the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS) is also against the takeover. Voyager would have illegally provided services in New York, says the NYFDS:
“Voyager has been illegally servicing customers in New York and thus illegally running a crypto business without a license. This is a violation of New York State law and regulations.”
Hypocritical?
According to Voyager itself, the acquisition of Binance is the best outcome for creditors. They also find the impediments of the SEC and the NYDFS highly hypocritical. The regulators themselves are the reason that distributing crypto assets is complicated by a web of legislation.
In a voting round, the vast majority of creditors voted to continue with the acquisition by Binance. For the time being, therefore, the US regulators are putting a stop to this.
