Bankrupt crypto broker Voyager sells Coinify back to founders for $2m

Rick Steves

The transaction is considered a related party transaction, as the purchaser is controlled by Mark Højgaard, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Henrik Hoffmeyer, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, who are senior officers.

Certain members of Coinify management have set up an entity, Ascension ApS, to acquire cryptocurrency platform Coinify from Voyager subsidiary European Holdings ApS for $2 million in cash.

The deal includes an additional, conditional earn-out payment stipulated in the event of a subsequent sale of Coinify by Ascension ApS within three years following the transaction, thus preserving potential upside for Voyager.

The U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York, which is overseeing Voyager’s ongoing Chapter 11 restructuring process, has approved the sale. Voyager acquired Coinify in August 2021.

Coinify’s funding requirements amount to $500,000 per month

Coinify operates in Europe, Asia, among other regions, and offers individual and corporate cryptocurrency trading, crypto payment processing services, and enterprise solutions via Coinify API.

The sale of Coinify reduces overall headcount by 15% and eliminates Voyager’s ongoing funding requirements for Coinify of up to US$500,000 per month.

The transaction is considered a related party transaction, as the purchaser is controlled by Mark Højgaard, Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer, and Hans Henrik Hoffmeyer, Co-founder and Chief Operating Officer, who are senior officers.

Voyager is a cryptocurrency platform in the United States founded in 2018 and offers access to more than 100 different crypto assets using its easy-to-use mobile application.

The bankrupt crypto broker plans to distribute $270 million to affected customers, held in a custodial account at the Metropolitan Commercial bank(MCB).

Mark Cuban faces lawsuit due to Voyager collapse

Voyager’s collapse comes amid its exposure to prominent crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital (3AC), which was also brought down during the ongoing ‘crypto winter’.

Mark Cuban, billionaire and owner of the NBA Dallas Mavericks team, has been exposed to Voyager’s bankruptcy as he was a leading investor in the crypto broker. He is being brought to court for being allegedly responsible for the “deceptive” Voyager Platform, which “was an unregulated and unsustainable fraud, similar to other Ponzi schemes”, according to plaintiffs.

“It was specifically alleged in detail in that complaint how defendants Mark Cuban and Stephen Ehrlich were key players who personally reached out to investors, individually and through the Dallas Mavericks, to induce them to invest in the deceptive Voyager platform.”

“Cuban and Ehrlich, as will be explained, went to great lengths to use their experience as investors to dupe millions of Americans into investing — in many cases, their life savings — into the deceptive Voyager platform and purchasing Voyager earn program accounts (“EPAs”), which are unregistered securities,” the complaint continued, adding that “as a result, over 3.5 million Americans have now all but lost over $5 billion in cryptocurrency assets.”

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