On Wednesday 5th June, 2024, Binance made a move to dismiss the bulk of a significant lawsuit in London, valued at up to £10 billion ($12.8 billion). The case accuses Binance and other cryptocurrency exchanges of conspiring to “delist” the Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) cryptocurrency. This lawsuit is being presented at the Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT) in London on behalf of over 200,000 BSV holders.
The legal team representing BSV Claims argued in their court documents that the matter should be allowed to proceed to trial along with the other aspects of the case. Binance chose not to comment on the ongoing litigation, while a Kraken spokesperson labeled the lawsuit as “baseless.”
The controversy stems from actions taken by Binance, Kraken, and other exchanges in 2019 when they decided to delist BSV. This decision was partly influenced by claims from Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who is associated with BSV and had asserted that he was Satoshi Nakamoto, the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin.
Earlier this year, in a separate legal matter, Craig Wright was found to have lied and fabricated documents to support his false claim of being Satoshi Nakamoto. Wright has expressed his intention to appeal this ruling.
The legal representatives of BSV Claims, an entity established to pursue this lawsuit, contend that the exchanges engaged in anti-competitive practices by delisting BSV in 2019. They argue that this action caused the value of BSV to drop significantly and hindered its potential to become a leading cryptocurrency, estimating the damage at up to £9 billion.
The lawyers for BSV Claims mentioned that the exchanges are not challenging the case’s certification under the UK’s collective proceedings regime, which is similar to the class action system in the United States. Obtaining this certification would be merely the initial step in the lawsuit.
In summary, Binance is attempting to dismiss most of the lawsuit in London concerning allegations of collusion to delist BSV, which has drawn in over 200,000 BSV holders as plaintiffs. While the exchanges argue that the lawsuit lacks merit, the BSV Claims legal team believes there is a strong case for anti-competitive behavior that significantly impacted BSV’s value and market position.
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