UK Judge Dismisses Bitcoin SV Investors’ Claims in $13B Lawsuit Against Binance

On May 21, the United Kingdom’s Court of Appeal dismissed most of a high-profile lawsuit filed by Bitcoin SV (BSV) holders against major crypto exchanges, including Binance, over the token’s 2019 delisting. The court ruled that claims from a specific group of investors, referred to as subclass B, who held BSV during the delisting period, could not move forward.

The group had sought an estimated $13.3 billion (approximately £10 billion) in damages. They alleged that the delisting blocked BSV’s path to becoming a top-tier cryptocurrency, similar to Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash. However, the Court of Appeal rejected this argument, calling it speculative.

Court Dismisses BSV Loss Claims 

According to Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos, BSV was not so distinct that its delisting created irreplaceable losses. He noted that even the claimants used Bitcoin and Bitcoin Cash as benchmarks, which undermined their assertion that BSV was uniquely positioned for massive gains.

Building on this argument, the court further stated that the claimants had the ability and responsibility to minimize potential losses. The court emphasized that investors could not recover losses that they could have reasonably avoided.

Further, the court disagreed when the investors challenged the application of the “market mitigation rule,” arguing it should be decided at trial. It held that the rule applies to freely traded assets like BSV and that losses must be assessed soon after delisting on Binance and other exchanges.

Finally, the court rejected the claim based on a “loss of chance” to benefit from future price increases. It found the theory legally unsound due to the inherent unpredictability of crypto prices.

Some Claims Proceed

While Binance and the other exchanges secured a partial victory through this strike-out application, the ruling limits the scope of the lawsuit significantly. In particular, it reduces the speculative damages that made up the bulk of the $13.3 billion claim. However, this does not end all legal exposure for the defendants.

Notably, the court allowed a smaller set of claims to proceed. These claims involve users who may have lost access to their BSV or sold at a loss following the delisting.

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