Voyager Digital recently filed for bankruptcy, shocking many investors. Some claim to have “millions” of dollars’ worth of crypto assets or most of their life savings locked on the crypto exchange.
As was previously reported, Three Arrows Capital (3AC) defaulted on a $650 million loan from the company, causing Voyager to pause withdrawals at the beginning of this month due to liquidity issues. Despite receiving a $500 million loan from Alameda in June, Voyager filed for bankruptcy on July 6.
The recent bankruptcy filing has left many Voyager users in shock, according to a July 9 article in Fortune. Some people reportedly risked almost their entire life’s savings on the platform, while others reportedly have millions hanging in the balance.
One user, who will only be identified as Robert for privacy reasons, claimed that he invested roughly six figures—or 70% of his life savings—on the platform.
Robert confessed, “Honestly, I cry every day. I don’t know what to tell my wife. We decided to [invest in Voyager] as partners, but she put more faith in my judgment than anyone else’s.
Robert, a six-year investor, continued by saying that while he had done a fair amount of research on Voyager before using the platform, he would never have done so if he had known that the company planned to lend client money to a hedge fund:
“I didn’t know Voyager would lend [customers’ USDC] to a hedge fund. I probably would have just kept it in cash in my safe if I had known it might be lent out.
Scott Melker, a well-known crypto influencer also known online as The Wolf Of All Streets and claiming to have seven figures stuck on Voyager, was also interviewed by Fortune.
He said, “Listen, I’m out millions of dollars,” adding that he was ashamed of having been exposed to Voyager too much despite frequently discussing risk management and safeguarding your assets.
Melker has about 121,000 YouTube subscribers and 851,000 Twitter followers. While acknowledging that he stands to lose a lot on Voyager, he claimed that he regrets having previously advocated the service to his audience, friends, and family.
“I know people make their own choices, but if I hadn’t brought [Voyager] to their attention, they wouldn’t have given it a second thought. To be completely honest, that is worse than losing my own money.
The executives of the company have stated their intentions to repay users through a combination of cryptocurrency, proceeds from the Three Arrows Capital (3AC) recovery, Voyager tokens, and common shares in the newly reorganized company firm as part of the bankruptcy process for Voyager.
However, it is uncertain whether this will lead to full compensation for all users.