Incoming Shiba Inu Dump? Bankrupt Voyager Sends 270B SHIB to Crypto Exchanges

Unexplained Shiba Inu transfer stirs concerns within crypto Twitter.

Bankrupt crypto lender Voyager has sent 270 billion SHIB in three 90 billion transactions to Coinbase, Kraken, and Binance.US.

Crypto on-chain analytics platform Lookonchain took to Twitter to disclose the development today, sharing a link to the transaction details. At the time of writing, the transfers occurred roughly 12 hours ago, with the first going to what Lookonchain tagged as the Binance.US deposit address per a screenshot sent. According to Lookonchain and confirmed by the data on the Voyager address, the defunct crypto lender still holds 6.8 trillion SHIB.

Voyager transferred 270B $SHIB($3.2M) to #Coinbase, #Kraken and #BinanceUS 7 hrs ago.

And still holds 6.8T $SHIB($82M) now.https://t.co/26spZXEvwU pic.twitter.com/iBojI3rb0W

— Lookonchain (@lookonchain) February 2, 2023

Notably, the reason for this transfer is unknown, and Voyager is yet to respond to requests for comment.

“Maybe a sale, maybe a restructuring of assets,” Lookonchain wrote in response to requests for comment.

Unsurprisingly, it has raised eyebrows within the crypto community, with many speculating that the defunct crypto lender is looking to cash in on the latest market rally to repay creditors. In addition, it has also sparked fears of an incoming Shiba Inu sell-off, which could negatively impact its price.

There is little sign of this at press time as the token is trading for $0.000012, up 2.91% in the last 24 hours in keeping with the broader market rally following the Fed’s rate hike decision.

Notably, Lookonchain also shared data from PeckShieldAlert showing that Voyager also moved other crypto assets aside from SHIB. Per the PeckShieldAlert tweet, Voyager moved $9.6 million worth of crypto in total. Other assets transferred to exchanges include; about 4.9 million VGX, 221k LINK and 3,050 ETH.

#PeckShieldAlert ~$9.6M worth of cryptos transferred from Voyager to crypto-exchanges Coinbase, Binance US and Kraken, including ~4.9M $VGX (~$2.1M), 221k $LINK ($1.5M), 3,050 $ETH (~$3M), 270B $SHIIB (~$3M) within the last 12 hours pic.twitter.com/fiTOfToujD

— PeckShieldAlert (@PeckShieldAlert) February 2, 2023

Recall that Voyager filed for bankruptcy in July following the Terra ecosystem collapse in May, which had a ripple effect on the entire crypto space.

Presently, it looks poised to sell its assets to Binance.US in a deal that will see the US arm of the leading crypto exchange pay $20 million in cash and transfer Voyager customers to the crypto exchange. Voyager estimates that the sale will allow customers to recover 51% of their deposits at the time of the bankruptcy filing, per a Reuters report in early January that reveals that the judge has given his initial approval of the deal.

However, it is worth noting that the deal is not final, pending a court hearing at a later date. It faces potential resistance from the US Securities and Exchange Commission, which said it was not satisfied with Binance.US’s disclosure, and the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS), which believes it has to vet the deal for national security risks despite the exchange’s claim that it is independent of Binance the international entity.

Notably, Voyager had initially entered a deal with FTX for its assets. However, it fell through in the wake of FTX’s collapse and allegations of fraud against its founder Sam Bankman-Fried.

The story was updated to include comments from Lookonchain and information from PeckShieldAlert.