Major Crypto Broker Voyager Digital Suspends All Withdrawals And Trading Activity

By Kevin • July 1, 2022 10:07 pm • Comments

Celsius Network caught all the attention in the crypto industry this past week after it decided to pause all withdrawals due to reasons such as “extreme market conditions”.

Now, it seems like Celsius won’t be the only one do something like that.

One of the major crypto brokers, Voyager Digital, also just announced that they will be pausing all withdrawals, deposits, and trading activity.

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Once again, the firm is citing reasons such as the current market conditions which adds it a long list of crypto businesses that have been affected by the crypto winter.

This announcement may have negative impact on the rest of the industry as investors are unable to access their digital assets.

CNBC reports:

Erlich went on to say that the decision is designed to give the firm additional time to continue “exploring strategic alternatives with various interested parties” and that they will provide additional information at “the appropriate time.”

Voyager’s announcement comes amid a raft of margin calls and defaults across the sector, making the digital broker the latest collateral damage of the broad market selloff in cryptocurrency.

The two most widely traded cryptocurrencies, bitcoin and ether, are down more than 70% from their peaks last November, and the May collapse of the UST stablecoin sent shockwaves through an already tumultuous market.

The news comes a few days after one of Voyager’s customers failed to make payments on a loan worth hundreds of millions of dollars, fueling growing concerns of an insolvency contagion effect across the industry.

As a result of the release of this news, so far it seems that the market has not been severely impacted as the price of Bitcoin was still able to rally about 2%.

Voyager happens to be a competitor to BlockFi which has also been experiencing financial troubles and may possibly be acquired by FTX.

Celsius and Voyager pausing withdrawals on their platform has sent alarming concerns about what could happen if crypto investors are not holding their assets on their own private wallets.

After all, digital assets that are stored on a hosted exchange wallet are technically under the control of the company and not the owner.

Yahoo concludes:

Additionally, the suspension means customers cannot use their Voyager debit card. Excluding at least $645 million in loaned assets related to 3AC, Voyager has an additional $480 million in outstanding crypto assets on loan as of Thursday.

Voyager has hired Moelis & Company and The Consello Group as financial advisors and Kirkland & Ellis LLP as a legal advisor.

Shares of Voyager Digital, which trade over-the-counter in the US, fell 30% on Friday. Canadian equity markets were closed on Friday. Shares of Voyager Digital have lost over 97% this year.

Investors are speculating that this is not the last crypto platform that will be affected during this bear market.

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