Voyager Digital
A crypto brokerage that marketed accounts as 'FDIC insured,' then froze withdrawals and went bankrupt in 2022 when its roughly $650M loan to hedge fund 3AC defaulted.
Voyager Digital was a publicly traded crypto brokerage that advertised high yields and told customers their money was about as safe as it would be in a bank. That wasn't true.
Founded in 2018 and led by Stephen Ehrlich, Voyager took customer deposits and lent them out for yield. More than $650 million of that went to a single borrower, the hedge fund Three Arrows Capital. When 3AC defaulted in June 2022, Voyager froze withdrawals on 1 July and filed for Chapter 11 on 5 July 2022. At the time, Voyager said it had about $1.3 billion of crypto on the platform and more than $350 million of customers' cash at a partner bank. The CFTC later put what it owed its customers in the United States at more than $1.7 billion.
The marketing is the part worth remembering. Voyager told customers "YOUR USD IS FDIC INSURED", and Ehrlich told them their funds were "as safe with us as at a bank." The Federal Trade Commission charged that this was false. Voyager wasn't a bank, and its customers' deposits weren't eligible for FDIC insurance. Their cash sat in Voyager's account at a partner bank and was protected only if that bank failed, and their crypto wasn't covered at all. Voyager settled with the FTC in 2023. In 2025 Ehrlich settled both the FTC's case and a parallel fraud case brought by the Commodity Futures Trading Commission: he and his wife agreed to pay the FTC $2.8 million, he accepted a ban on marketing or selling retail crypto products, and he was ordered to pay $750,000 to Voyager customers.
The rescue attempts touched most of the other names here. FTX won the auction for Voyager's assets in September 2022 and then collapsed before the deal could close. Binance.US agreed to buy the assets instead, then backed out in April 2023, blaming the US regulatory climate. Voyager wound itself down, and by September 2024 its creditors had been paid 70 percent of their allowed claims. "FDIC insured" sounded like a guarantee and wasn't one, which is worth remembering the next time a custodian leans on the word.
See Mt. Gox to FTX: The Custody Graveyard for the rest of the graveyard.
Key takeaways
- Voyager lent more than $650M of customer assets to Three Arrows Capital; when 3AC defaulted, it froze withdrawals and filed for bankruptcy on 5 July 2022
- It marketed accounts as 'FDIC insured,' which the FTC charged was false: the FDIC covered only the partner bank's US dollars against the bank failing, not crypto and not Voyager's own insolvency
- Rescues by FTX and then Binance.US both fell through; by September 2024 creditors had been paid 70 percent of their allowed claims
Related chapters
Corrected
Was: The entry said Voyager's "FDIC insured" line was technically accurate, and that customers who relied on it had simply misread what was being promised.
Now: The Federal Trade Commission charged that telling customers "YOUR USD IS FDIC INSURED" was false. Voyager was not a bank and its customers' deposits were not eligible for FDIC insurance; their cash was protected only if Voyager's partner bank failed, and their crypto not at all. Voyager settled in 2023, and its former CEO settled in 2025. Details
Sources (10)
- FTC - settlement with Voyager and charges against its former CEO (October 2023): Voyager's marketing said "YOUR USD IS FDIC INSURED" and Ehrlich told customers their funds were "as safe with us as at a bank"; Voyager was not a bank and its deposits were not eligible for FDIC insurance; the FDIC does not insure crypto; customers' cash sat in Voyager's account at a partner bank and was protected only if that bank failed; Voyager settled, Ehrlich had not
- FTC - Former CEO of Voyager Digital agrees to ban and $2.8 million payment to resolve FTC charges (June 27, 2025): Ehrlich and his wife to pay $2.8 million; he is banned from marketing or selling retail products or services used to buy, sell, deposit or trade crypto
- CFTC - fraud charges against former Voyager CEO Stephen Ehrlich (October 12, 2023): Voyager was touted as a safe haven paying up to 12%; over $650 million of customers' crypto went unsecured to a hedge fund, which defaulted; Voyager filed for bankruptcy on July 5, 2022, owing its customers in the United States more than $1.7 billion
- CFTC - court order to return $750,000 to Voyager victims (September 15, 2025): a consent order requires Ehrlich to pay $750,000 to Voyager customers and bans him from CFTC registration for three years
- Voyager Digital - first-day declaration of Stephen Ehrlich, In re Voyager Digital Holdings (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 22-10943), Doc 15 (July 6, 2022): Ehrlich, its CEO, helped found Voyager in 2018; a public company on the Toronto Stock Exchange since 2021; customers could earn up to 12 percent; Voyager lent customers' crypto to third parties; it froze all withdrawals and trading on July 1, 2022
- CNBC - Voyager Digital files for Chapter 11 bankruptcy (July 6, 2022): Voyager said it had roughly $1.3 billion of crypto on its platform and more than $350 million of customer cash at Metropolitan Commercial Bank; 3AC defaulted on $650 million it owed Voyager
- The Block - FTX wins auction for bankrupt crypto lender Voyager (September 26, 2022)
- CNBC - Binance.US to acquire Voyager's assets (December 19, 2022): the planned FTX-Voyager deal failed because of FTX's collapse
- The Block - Binance.US backs out of the Voyager deal (April 25, 2023): Binance.US terminated the purchase, citing a hostile and uncertain US regulatory climate; Voyager would pay customers directly instead
- Voyager plan administrator - eighth status report, In re Voyager Digital Holdings (Bankr. S.D.N.Y. 22-10943), Doc 1785 (September 25, 2024): creditors of Voyager Digital, LLC have received 70% of their allowed claims