Will Binance Save Voyager?

Binance is emerging as a clear winner in the FTX debacle as everyone else tucks tail and scrambles to create Proof of Reserves…while Binance seeks to strengthen their hand. Due to the defaulted-on loan that Voyager made to Three Arrows, Voyager went Chapter 11 and sought a white knight; the winner of that $1.4Bn bid was FTX only about a month ago.

Obviously, Voyager had to re-open the bid process and it looks like Binance will bid to acquire Voyager’s assets.In addition,  Crypto asset manager Wave is making a new bid  to buy the broker, after missing out on the last round of the auction. Apparently their last bid failed due to being unable to confirm viable financing. 

While Voyager had a very strong client app and good brand image, it’s unclear as to whether those will survive any acquisition, or whether customers with currently locked-up assets will just be migrated to a different host with a haircut on their holdings to pay for the transaction. 

Voyager Digital’s utility token VGX is up 46% as of this writing on the news of new suitors. 

Notably absent from any merger/acquisition talks of late has been some of the US-based fiat brokers like Coinbase, Gemini, and Bittrex. It’s apparent that their goal is to keep a low profile and prevent any “bank runs” on their customer assets. 

I think we’re only in the first few innings of all of these forced acquisitions as the house of cards continues to tumble and the asset contagion continues to propagate. Like how a forest needs a fire to encourage new growth, all of these bankruptcies and acquisitions must run their course so that a new age Bull can rampage. We’re not there yet, but we’ll be there to ring the bell when it’s time.