Kraken and Binance delisted Bitcoin SV. Now, they’re being sued for $13bn

Bitcoin SV was withdrawn from both exchanges in 2019 after Dr Craig Wright claimed to be Satoshi Nakamoto. Now a class-action lawsuit alleges that the coin caused its investors to suffer huge losses.

Following the damning ruling that Craig Wright lied “extensively and repeatedly” about being Satoshi Nakamoto, the creator of Bitcoin, another crypto showdown is now playing out in the British courts.

The case, currently being heard by the Competition Appeal Tribunal in London, concerns Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (Bitcoin SV for short), which was created following the hard fork of another cryptocurrency known as Bitcoin Cash in 2018.

Dr Wright has long been a strong supporter of BSV, even going so far as to claim it is the real Bitcoin, arguing that this digital asset with its significantly larger block size paves the way for cheaper and faster transactions on the blockchain.

This background brings us back to the class action lawsuit heard by the court. A group known as BSV Claims Limited is suing four leading crypto exchanges (Binance, Kraken, Bittylicious and ShapeShift) and seeking damages of up to £10 billion ($12.8 billion).

From where? Because these trading platforms allegedly colluded to delist BSV in April 2019. Lawyers representing the class argue this artificially depresses the price of the coin and inflicts financial harm on British consumers who invest in it.

It is particularly interesting to look at who runs BSV Claims Limited. Lord David Currie of Marylebone held a number of influential positions in Britain during his career; He served as chairman of the Competition and Markets Authority as well as the first chairman of broadcasting regulator Ofcom.

The organization says it is also supported by some other prominent politicians. They include Lord Andrew Tyrie, a trained economist who was a Member of Parliament for 20 years and is a former chairman of the Treasury Select Committee. Current MP Sir Robert Buckland also sits on the advisory board. He was the minister of justice.

What’s going on?

According to BSV Claims Limited, the decision to delist BSV “is an anti-competitive practice in breach of competition law.” Their case is said to represent an estimated 244,000 Britons who own cryptocurrency on an “opt-out” basis; This means that all investors will be considered eligible for compensation unless they explicitly say they are not interested.

The case is being funded by a company called Softwhale Limited, which will receive a share of any damages if the class action is successful. Little is known about the business, but according to Bloomberg, the firm’s funding comes from Calvin Ayre. He is a Canadian entrepreneur and one-time gambling mogul who also supports BSV.

Some of the evidence put forward by BSV Claims Limited relates to tweets sent during the period when this cryptocurrency was delisted. Five years ago, a Bitcoin user with the pseudonym Hodlonaut branded Wright a “scammer” and “scammer” on Twitter. (A defamation lawsuit was filed soon after, and Hodlonaut went on to win.) Binance’s then-CEO, Changpeng Zhao, tweeted in support of Hodlonaut — writing in April 2019:

Just three days later, CZ followed through on this threat and the exchange announced that all BSV trading pairs would be listed. At the time, Binance argued that:

“We periodically review each digital asset we list to ensure it continues to meet the high level of standards we expect.”

Binance

News of the delisting of the world’s largest stock exchange caused BSV’s value to plummet; This led to a rapid decline of 50% in two days. While the cryptocurrency was once the 12th largest cryptocurrency by market cap in 2019, it now ranks 75th as prices remained stable while other major altcoins enjoyed a bull market.

Binance, on the other hand, told a London court on Wednesday that most of the case regarding whether BSV has the potential to become a major cryptocurrency should be dismissed. Brian Kennelly, the exchange’s attorney, said those who continue to hold the altcoin are making a “completely voluntary decision” and are free to invest in an alternative.

Meanwhile, Kraken had previously described this lawsuit as “baseless”.

The current three-day hearing relates to BSV Claims Limited’s attempt to have its class actions certified in a class action order; This means the case is still at a very early stage. If accepted, a trial will then proceed; The organization itself admits it could take two to three years for any decision on reparations to be made.