Cryptocurrency platform and lender Voyager Digital (VYGVF) – Get Voyager Digital Ltd Report ran afoul earlier in 2022 when the costs of the digital belongings sunk and froze the belongings of shoppers whereas its CEO allegedly made $31 million promoting shares of the corporate.
While the crypto market worn out $2 trillion in belongings, Voyager CEO Steven Ehrlich allegedly cashed out of the corporate’s shares earlier than the lender filed for chapter, in keeping with the Canadian Securities Administration.
Shares of Voyager skyrocketed from $0.07 a share in October 2020 to $26 a share by March 2021. Bitcoin climbed by 455% and Ether jumped by 688% throughout the identical interval.
Ehrlich made his hundreds of thousands when he allegedly bought shares of the now bankrupt lender in February and March 2021 close to their all-time highs.
Disposing of Shares
The CEO and his Delaware LLCs disposed of almost 1.9 million shares in 11 separate gross sales from February 9, 2021 to March 31, 2021, totaling $31 million, in keeping with knowledge from the Canadian Securities Administration.
The three largest of the transactions netted virtually $19 million from promoting 1.4 million shares and have been linked to a $50 million secondary providing by Stifel Nicolaus in February 2021.
By July, Voyager would file for chapter after freezing the belongings of their clients.
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The all-time highs set in November by the crypto market collapsed, wiping out $2 trillion.
Voyager’s Lending Business Led to Downfall
As a crypto buying and selling platform, Voyager additionally supplied loans and staking companies, that are a kind of rewards for holding sure digital cash.
The firm’s lending enterprise led to its downfall: Voyager seems to have loaned its shoppers’ funds to crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital, additionally identified as 3AC.
This well-known fund, 3AC, defaulted in June on a mortgage of $667 million granted to it by Voyager. Three Arrows Capital was compelled by a courtroom within the British Virgin Islands to enter into liquidation.
The catastrophe led Voyager to droop deposits, withdrawals and loyalty rewards on its platform.
“Customers with crypto in their account(s) will receive in exchange a combination of the crypto in their account(s), proceeds from the 3AC recovery, common shares in the newly reorganized Company, and Voyager tokens,” Ehrlich wrote on Twitter on July 6.
In its chapter submitting, Voyager mentioned it had custody of $1.3 billion in buyer crypto belongings amongst its 3.5 million lively customers.
Voyager’s demise started when it promised large returns on digital belongings, however couldn’t maintain its operations throughout the huge losses sustained within the crypto market.
The FDIC later ordered Voyager to cease calling their merchandise FDIC-insured, stating the claims “false and misleading.” Bank deposits are FDIC-insured in contrast to shares and different various belongings.