Troubled Crypto Firm Voyager to Grant $1.6M in Bonuses to Key Employees (Report)

One of the most affected companies in the crypto space because of the bear market – Voyager Digital – will reportedly pay $1.6 million in bonuses to its top 34 staff. The firm explained that those workers are part of the accounting, legal, and IT infrastructure units.

Two weeks ago, a lawsuit alleged that the American billionaire Mark Cuban had lured inexperienced investors into investing in Voyager Digital’s “Ponzi Scheme.” For its part, the company asked the court to dismiss the legal case against the entrepreneur.

Award for the Hard Workers

Earlier this month, Voyager Digital asked Bankruptcy Court judges to approve a total of $1.9 million in bonuses that the company could distribute to 38 of its key employees.

“At a time when thousands of creditors struggle to pay basic personal expenses due to the Debtors’ flawed business model, Voyager now seeks to pay bonuses to their already well-compensated employees,” the entity stated back then.

According to a recent coverage, the authorities allowed the crypto brokerage to stimulate 34 out of its 328 workers with $1.6 million in bonuses. Those individuals will receive an extra 22.5% of their annual paychecks. They are considered essential for the firm’s operations since they manage its accounting, legal, and IT departments.

“Voyager employees have legitimate reasons to be concerned about their long-term employment status given the ongoing sale process and uncertainty of future operations,” the organization’s lawyers stated in court filings.

The attorneys added that giving extra money to the team’s most important members is a vital step since those professionals should guide the company’s rescue plan.

Voyager’s Problems and Mark Cuban

The core of Voyager Digital’s issues was its relation to the distressed crypto hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. At the beginning of July, due to the bad debts from 3AC, the firm halted trading, deposits, and withdrawals on its platform.

A few days later, the company and its two subsidiaries – Voyager Digital LLC and Voyager Digital Holdings – filed for Chapter 11 Bankruptcy with the Southern District of New York. CEO Stephen Ehrlich raised hopes that the move could grant customers additional protection and secure their assets. So far, the firm has returned nearly $220 million, or 80% of users’ funds.

Mark Cuban – the owner of the NBA team, The Dallas Mavericks – also got involved in the saga. A lawsuit alleged that he and Stephen Ehrlich urged young and inexperienced investors to put their savings into the company by promoting it on numerous occasions. The plaintiffs went further, arguing that the two men stimulated individuals to distribute all their life savings into the entity’s “unregulated products.”

Voyager’s attorneys were quick to react and asked the court to halt the lawsuit against Cuban and Ehrlich. The lawyers outlined that the bankruptcy filing gives the firm and key figures related to it immunity from similar legal cases.