Judge signs off on $1.65B settlement between Voyager Digital and FTC

A federal judge has approved an order requiring crypto lending company Voyager Digital and its affiliates to pay $1.65 billion in financial relief to the United States Federal Trade Commission (FTC). In a Nov. 28 filing in U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, Judge Gregory Woods ordered Voyager to pay $1.65 billion following a settlement in between the lending firm and FTC revealed in October. As part of the agreement, Voyager will be “completely restrained and enjoined” from marketing or offering services or products associated with digital assets.Source: PACERAccording to Judge Woods, the order will mostly not effect procedures in personal bankruptcy court, where Voyager declared Chapter 11 security in July 2022 and disclosed liabilities ranging from $1 billion to $10 billion. In May, the court approved a strategy allowing Voyager users to get 35.72% of their claims at the lending company initially.Under the settlement, celebrations related to Voyager needs to work together with FTC officials, consisting of statement at hearings, trials, and discovery. After a year, Voyager should also report on its compliance with the procedures, subject to keeping an eye on by the commission.Related: FTC boosts investigative procedures to deal with AI-related lawbreakingIn October, the U.S. Commodity Futures Trading Commission and FTC filed parallel suits versus previous Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich, declaring he made deceptive statements concerning the use and security of consumer funds. Ehrlich declared at the time that Voyagers team “regularly communicated and worked closely” with regulators, mainly denying the allegations.In July, the FTC ordered crypto financing company Celsius to pay $4.7 billion in charges, declaring the companys co-founders abused user assets and deceived financiers about the platforms services. U.S. officials arrested previous Celsius CEO Alex Mashinsky, and he remains complimentary on bail up until his trial, set up to begin in September 2024. Magazine: US enforcement companies are showing up the heat on crypto-related criminal activity