Cryptocurrency broker Voyager Digital files for bankruptcy protection

A US cryptocurrency broker and lender has filed for bankruptcy protection, becoming the latest domino to fall in the embattled digital asset market.

The cryptocurrency market has slumped since its $3tn (£2.5tn) peak last November to less than $1tn, with the decline accelerating in May when a multibillion dollar cryptocurrency, Terra, collapsed.

The ensuing market rout triggered difficulties at a crypto-focused hedge fund, Three Arrows Capital, which owed money to Voyager and last week was lined up for liquidation.

In its Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing on Tuesday, Voyager, based in New Jersey, estimated that it had more than 100,000 creditors and somewhere between $1bn and $10bn in assets, and liabilities worth the same value.