Binance News Recap: Binance Acquires Voyager and Indonesian Exchange Toko; UK Former Prime Minister's Brother Resigns as Binance Advisor

Binance was the subject of several news stories overnight, including the acquisition of Voyager and Indonesian exchange Tokocrypto; Jo Johnson, brother of former UK Prime Minister, reportedly resigned from his advisory position due to Binance's opaque finances, while the CEO of Binance.US emphasized that they are actively exploring more acquisition opportunities.

Binance.US Acquires Voyager Assets for $1.022 Billion

Previously reported, Voyager Digital announced that it has chosen the U.S. exchange BAM Trading Services Inc. Binance.US as its acquirer, with Binance.US offering $1.022 billion, including the fair value of Voyager's cryptocurrency investment portfolio.

The acquisition agreement by Binance.US will be completed under a bankruptcy plan and the transaction will be completed immediately upon court approval, allowing Voyager to return funds to customers.

The Voyager Token VGX saw a 22% increase starting at 09:00 on 12/19, at the time of writing.

Binance.US CEO: Welcoming Voyager Users, Exploring More Acquisitions

CEO Brian Shroder tweeted that he hopes to end Voyager's painful bankruptcy process and that users will be able to seamlessly access their digital assets on Binance.US in the future.

In an interview with Bloomberg, he also mentioned that they are looking at several companies facing financial crises.

1/ Today, @BinanceUS was selected highest and best bid in Voyager’s reopened bankruptcy asset auction. Once the deal is completed, Voyager users will finally be able to access their digital assets on the https://t.co/Wc26vMosC4 platform.

Read: https://t.co/gBK5m3kcYn

— Brian Shroder (@BrianShroder) December 19, 2022

Binance.US Acquires Indonesian Exchange

On the evening of 12/19, CoinDesk reported that Binance has officially acquired the Indonesian exchange Tokocrypto, gradually increasing its stake to nearly 100%.

Tokocrypto is the first cryptocurrency trader in Indonesia regulated by the Indonesian Commodity Futures Trading Regulatory Agency Bappebti, and Binance has been an investor since 2020.

Binance founder Changpeng Zhao CZ tweeted that Binance has been a major shareholder of Toko from the beginning, and this time they are just injecting more cash and increasing their stake.

Binance was the majority shareholder of Toko from the beginning. Just injected more cash and increased our shareholding a bit. pic.twitter.com/NIeYYxzPdU

— CZ 🔶 Binance (@cz_binance) December 19, 2022

UK Former Prime Minister's Brother Resigns as Binance Advisor

According to UK media The Telegraph's report, Jo Johnson, the brother of former UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson, joined the advisory committee under Binance in September, providing consultancy services as Binance was trying to launch an exchange in the country.

However, due to increasing pressure on Binance's financial transparency and frequent crises in the crypto industry, he resigned last week.

A Binance spokesperson stated that Jo Johnson has recently taken on the role of Executive Chairman at FutureLearn and will focus on his new role in the digital learning platform, hence reducing his other activities.