Binance.US’ proposed $1 billion deal to buy assets of bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Voyager should be put on hold while key legal objections are resolved, the U.S. government said in a filing Tuesday.
It followed an appeal by the US Trustee, the Justice Department branch that oversees bankruptcy cases, over concerns the deal would effectively shield Voyager and its employees from violations of tax or securities laws.
“The court cannot tell the government to speak now or remain silent forever until Voyager and Binance.US are married,” U.S. Attorney Damian Williams said in the filing. “Nothing in the Bankruptcy Code Allows courts to relieve parties of responsibility for past and future actions of the government.”
Williams said approval of the deal — or at least those parts that limit the government’s ability to enforce it — should be put on hold until an appeal is dealt with by a higher court.
Last week, New York bankruptcy judge Michael Wiles approved the deal after he expressed considerable skepticism about the SEC’s contention that Voyager’s VGX tokens may be unregistered securities.
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