Class action lawsuit against Bitfinex and Tether filed by lawyers who successfully sued Craig Wright

Quick Take

  • A class action lawsuit was filed today against Bitfinex and Tether by the lawyers who successfully sued Craig Wright
  • Bitfinex and Tether’s liability to the putative class allegedly surpasses $1.4 trillion U.S. dollars
  • The lawsuit was filed in the Southern District of New York

A class action lawsuit was filed today against Bitfinex, Tether and others in the United States District Court in the Southern District of New York.

The new federal court class action lawsuit alleges over $1.4 trillion in damages suffered by class members.  This suit, filed by Vel Freedman and Kyle Roche, lawyers who successfully sued Craig Wright in Florida federal court, alleges violations of the Commodities Exchange and federal RICO statute, among other claims.

Relying on publicly available documents, plaintiffs describe a "sophisticated scheme that coopted a disruptive innovation — cryptocurrency — and used it to defraud investors, manipulate markets, and conceal illicit proceeds." 

Counts I, II and III of the Complaint  allege market manipulation in violation of the Commodities Exchange Act.  Count IV alleges an antitrust violation, under the Sherman Act against the Tether defendants, alleging that "defendant Tether controls more than 80% of the market for stablecoins in the United States and the world," giving Tether "monopoly power."  Count V alleges a violation of the federal RICO statute, a U.S. law initially passed to combat organized crime.  Count VI of the lawsuit alleges fraud against the defendants.  Count VII alleges a statutory violation of NY trade practices law.  Finally, Count VIII seeks injunctive relief.

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The plaintiffs and defendants named in the lawsuit:

Plaintiffs David Leibowitz, Benjamin Leibowitz, Jason Leibowitz, Aaron Leibowitz, and Pinchas Goldshtein individually and on behalf of all others similar situated, bring this action against iFinex Inc., BFXNA Inc., BFXWW Inc., Tether Holdings Limited, Tether Operations Limited, Tether Limited, Tether International Limited, DigFinex Inc., Philip G. Potter, Giancarlo Devasini, Ludovicus Jan van der Velde, Reginald Fowler, Crypto Capital Corp., and Global Trade Solutions AG.


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