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FTX has attracted bidders including Miami International Securities Exchange for its crypto-derivatives platform, LedgerX, one of the few solvent pieces of Sam Bankman-Fried’s former empire, Bloomberg News reported. The exchange, known as MIAX and owned by Miami International Holdings Inc., made an offer for LedgerX, which is being sold in FTX’s bankruptcy proceedings, according to people with knowledge of the matter. Other bidders include Kalshi Inc., the people said, asking not to be identified because the discussions are private. The size of the bids couldn’t immediately be learned. LedgerX would give MIAX a registered platform to expand its presence in the crypto industry. MIAX already operates a clearinghouse it got as part of its 2020 acquisition of the Minneapolis Grain Exchange, but LedgerX technology would give it a window into the crypto industry. Kalshi, an exchange dedicated to trading on future events, became federally regulated by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission in 2020. It received $30 million in 2021 from Henry Kravis and other investors, including Sequoia Capital and Charles Schwab. It uses LedgerX as its clearinghouse, making any acquisition a natural fit for the company. Preliminary non-binding bids were due Jan. 25, and an auction is set for April 4. Talks are ongoing, and bids could change depending on the outcome of the negotiations, the people said.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation on Monday decided to break up Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) and hold two separate auctions for its traditional deposits unit and its private bank after failing to find a buyer for the failed lender last week, Reuters reported. It will seek bids for Silicon Valley Private Bank until March 22 and for the bridge bank until March 24. The private bank, which is housed within SVB's retail operations, caters to high net-worth individuals. Bank and non-bank financial firms will be allowed to bid on the asset portfolios, the regulator said. First Citizens BancShares Inc, one of the biggest buyers of failed U.S. lenders, has submitted a bid for all of Silicon Valley Bank, one source with knowledge of the matter said. If the FDIC decides to receive bids for parts of SVB, First Citizens also expects to bid. Bloomberg reported earlier on their interest on SVB.

The judge in Core Scientific's bankruptcy case approved a settlement with the bitcoin miner's exclusive energy contract negotiator under which Core Scientific will transfer more than $20 million worth of electrical equipment to the supplier, CoinDesk.com reported. The dispute relates to two facilities in west Texas that were supposed to cumulatively bring 1 gigawatt (GW) of power capacity to Core Scientific's portfolio of assets. Starting in the summer of 2021, Priority Power Management was hired as the miner's "exclusive energy manager and consultant," with responsibilities including negotiating power contracts and the build out of the two west Texas sites, according to a declaration filed with the court from Michael Bros, the miner's senior vice president of capital markets and acquisitions. However, as of May 2022, after "it became clear that the [two west Texas] facilities would not receive the anticipated power load," Core Scientific stopped making various payments to Priority Power Management, Bros said. Neither firm immediately replied to CoinDesk's request for comment as to why the power was not delivered. The miner also halted debt payments in October 2022 as it was running low on cash. In December, it filed for chapter 11 protection. Due to the work it had performed for Core Scientific up to the bankruptcy filing, Priority Power Management claimed it was owed about $30 million in the proceedings.

Regulators at the U.S. Federal Deposit Insurance Corp (FDIC) have asked banks interested in acquiring failed lenders Silicon Valley Bank and Signature Bank to submit bids by March 17, Reuters reported. The new auctions show how the FDIC is making a concerted effort to return the lenders to the private sector after regulators took over Silicon Valley Bank (SVB) last Friday and Signature Bank on Sunday, during a weekend of turmoil that has reverberated through the global financial system. This will be the FDIC's second attempt at selling SVB after a failed effort on Sunday. The FDIC has since retained investment bank Piper Sandler Companies to run a new auction, the sources said. The FDIC is aiming to sell both SVB and Signature in their entirety, while offers for parts of the banks could be considered if whole company sales do not happen. Only bidders with an existing bank charter will be allowed to study the banks' financials ahead of submitting their offer, a move which is aimed at giving traditional lenders an advantage over private equity firms.

U.S. officials are trying to block key parts of the sale of bankrupt Voyager Digital Ltd. to Binance.US, the American arm of the world’s biggest crypto exchange, while the government appeals a judge’s approval of the deal, Bloomberg News reported. he government opposes any limits on its ability to punish anyone involved in the proposal and a related bankruptcy-exit plan that Bankruptcy Judge Michael E. Wiles approved last week, a Justice Department lawyer said in court yesterday. Other aspects of the deal could go forward, but not the legal protections included as part of Voyager’s chapter 11 plan, Assistant U.S. Attorney Larry Fogleman told Wiles. Wiles agreed to hold a hearing Wednesday to decide whether to block the plan’s exculpation provisions. The provisions, which are routine in corporate bankruptcy cases, protect people from being held personally liable for implementing a court-approved plan. Under its bankruptcy plan, Voyager has the option of selling itself to Binance.US or liquidating its assets and distributing the money to creditors. Judge Wiles gave the company permission to do either after four days of contentious bankruptcy hearings.

The U.S. Department Justice has appealed a court order approving Voyager Digital's bankruptcy plan, creating a new hurdle for the crypto lender's plan to sell its assets and transfer its customers to Binance.US in a deal valued at $1.3 billion, Reuters reported. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Southern District of New York and the Office of the U.S. Trustee, the Department of Justice's bankruptcy watchdog, filed a notice of appeal late Thursday in U.S. bankruptcy court in Manhattan. It did not detail why they were appealing. Bankruptcy Judge Michael Wiles, who is overseeing Voyager's chapter 11 bankruptcy process, had approved Voyager's restructuring plan, which is built around the acquisition by crypto exchange Binance.US, at a hearing on Tuesday after overruling objections from the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission and DOJ. Lawyers for the U.S. Trustee and U.S. Attorney's office spoke up at hearings to consider Voyager's bankruptcy plan to oppose provisions Voyager included to protect employees from potential legal claims resulting from actions taken during the bankruptcy. They argued that Wiles' order approving the plan was written too broadly, potentially preventing the government from bringing regulatory enforcement actions or criminal charges if misconduct was discovered later. Judge Wiles disagreed, saying that Voyager and its employees should not be penalized for carrying out a court-approved sale to Binance.US. If the DOJ or any government agency had evidence of misconduct specifically related to the bankruptcy, they should have presented it in court, Judge Wiles said.

Binance’s American affiliate won court approval to take over thousands of customer accounts from bankrupt crypto platform Voyager Digital Ltd. despite warnings that the Binance.US exchange faces possible regulatory action, WSJ Pro Bankruptcy reported. Judge Michael Wiles of the U.S. Bankruptcy Court in New York approved the companies’ deal, undeterred by the revelation last Friday that Securities and Exchange Commission staff have determined that Binance.US, the American affiliate of the world’s largest crypto exchange, is operating an unregistered securities exchange. The SEC staff’s view that Binance operates an unregistered exchange in the U.S. hasn’t been affirmed by the agency’s commissioners but indicates the SEC could take enforcement action. Judge Wiles on Tuesday said he couldn’t delay the deal between Voyager and Binance.US simply because the SEC is warning about possible future enforcement, especially since the agency didn’t present any evidence the companies could rebut. “The SEC didn’t say why they say Binance.US is operating as a securities broker. If we were to try to address the issue we’d have to guess,” Judge Wiles said in his ruling. The judge’s ruling clears the way for Voyager to transfer roughly $1 billion in cryptocurrency it holds to Binance.US, where customers would receive new accounts to access some of the assets that have been frozen since Voyager filed for chapter 11 last year. In court hearings that began last week, Judge Wiles considered Voyager’s plan to sell its customer accounts to Binance.US, wind up the bankruptcy case and distribute what remains of the business to its customers. U.S. state and federal regulators have voiced doubts about the viability of the proposed deal, citing risks from pending regulatory investigations of Binance.US.