Binance Seeks to Cut $13B UK Lawsuit

On Wednesday, Binance moved to dismiss much of a London lawsuit worth up to 10 billion pounds ($12.8 billion) over claims it and other exchanges colluded to “delist” Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV)

In a case launched on behalf of more than 200,000 BSV owners, Binance and exchanges, including Kraken, are being sued at London’s Competition Appeal Tribunal (CAT).

In 2019, the exchanges engaged in anti-competitive behavior to delist BSV, according to the lawyers representing BSV Claims, a vehicle established to prosecute the case.

The claim is valued at up to 9 billion pounds, and they contend that the move caused the value of BSV to decline and prevented it from becoming a “top tier” cryptocurrency.

The solicitors of BSV Claims stated that the exchanges did not oppose the case being certified under the U.K.’s collective proceedings regime, which is roughly equivalent to the U.S. class action regime. Such certification would constitute only the initial phase of the litigation.

However, Binance has requested that the CAT dismiss the portion of the case concerning BSV’s purported potential to become a significant cryptocurrency.

This portion is being presented for individuals who retained BSV after delisting it.

Brian Kennelly, the attorney for Binance, stated that individuals who retained BSV did so “voluntarily.” Kennelly further noted that they “could reasonably have sold it and reinvested it in comparable cryptocurrency.”

In court documents, the attorneys for BSV Claims contended that the matter should be tried in conjunction with the remainder of the case.

Binance declined to provide an update regarding ongoing litigation. A Kraken spokesperson referred to the lawsuit as being “baseless.”

In 2019, Binance, Kraken, and other exchanges delisted BSV in part as a response to allegations made by Australian computer scientist Craig Wright, who was affiliated with BSV, that he was the pseudonymous inventor of Bitcoin known as “Satoshi Nakamoto.”

Wright was discovered to have fabricated and lied in separate litigation earlier this year to substantiate his fraudulent assertion that he was Satoshi. Wright has declared that he will file an appeal against that decision.