US court gives Voyager green light to pay bonuses to key employees

Voyager Digital will pay $1.9 million in retention bonuses to key personnel to ensure the embattled cryptocurrency lender can continue to operate during bankruptcy proceedings.

A New York bankruptcy court has given the green light to struggling cryptocurrency brokerage Voyager Digital to pay retention bonuses to key staff members.

The company filed a petition in the United States Bankruptcy Court on August 2 seeking approval of its Key Employee Retention Plan (KERP), which involved payments worth 1. $9 million to 38 key employees who have been identified as critical to the continuity of the exchange. operation.

Creditors of the company, which filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, initially objected to Voyager's KERP payments in a court filing on August 19, saying payments to investors should be prioritized over compared to "well paid" employees.

According to court documents, an agreement was reached between Voyager and the creditors' committee to drop opposition to the proposed KERP under certain conditions. Chief among these is the implementation of operational cost reduction measures to save $4.6 million. KERP payments are 22.5% of eligible employees' annual salaries.

Related: Voyager to Return $270M in Funds to Clients, Says It Received 'Better' Offers Than FTX

Voyager says the 38 employees are essential to business operations, performing "esse...