Voyager Digital’s plan to sell its digital assets to cryptocurrency exchange Binance.US includes a clause that would preclude US officials from bringing legal action against anyone connected to the sale.
U.S. Trustee William Harrington and other government lawyers said in a motion filed on March 14 in a New York bankruptcy court that “the court improperly exceeded its statutory power” in authorizing the pardoning.
They asked for a two-week hold on the court’s approval of the transaction so they could submit an appeal.
The clause, which the court authorized on March 7 after finding that 97% of Voyager customers supported the idea, was designed to shield those involved in carrying out the sale from being held personally accountable for its implementation.
Despite not objecting to other aspects of the proposed transaction, U.S. authorities claim the provision would make it more difficult for the government to “exercise its police and regulatory responsibilities.”
On March 6, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) objected to the plan as well, citing the “extraordinary” and “highly improper” exculpation provision. The SEC claimed that Binance.US is running an unregistered securities exchange and that the repayment token would be an unregistered security offering. The matter will be heard on March 15 at 2:00 p.m. local time.
According to the most recent projections, the strategy is anticipated to result in the creditors of Voyager receiving about 73% of the value of their money back.