A New York judge has stated that the U.S. government presents a "significant case on the merits" in its efforts to block Binance.US's $1 billion acquisition of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager's assets. District Judge Jennifer Rearden announced on Friday that she would attempt to resolve the dispute swiftly, as delays could cost the estate up to $10 million per month.
In March, U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles approved the sale, but Rearden halted it this week to examine the U.S. Attorney's objections that the agreement effectively granted Voyager immunity from tax or securities law violations.
Rearden said that government arguments have "gone entirely unrebutted" by Voyager and its creditors, and that "neither of which has provided any authority for the proposition that a bankruptcy court can release criminal liability."
In her reasoning published on Friday, Rearden appeared to favor the government's stance, stating that "the Exculpation Clause appears to go further than the quasi-judicial immunity doctrine allows." Binance.US placed a bid for Voyager last year after FTX, the previous bidder, collapsed. This week, the Commodity Futures Trading Commission sued Binance's global entity and CEO Changpeng "CZ" Zhao for offering unregistered crypto derivatives. Zhao referred to the lawsuit as an "incomplete recitation of facts."
Rearden has established a tight deadline to resolve the Voyager issue, requiring the government to submit its brief by April 7 and Voyager to respond by April 18.
