The trading platforms Kraken and Binance are facing a lawsuit for delisting Bitcoin SV, with the plaintiffs claiming that this action caused significant financial losses for investors. The lawsuit alleges that the platforms colluded to remove BSV from their listings in April 2019, artificially driving down its price and harming British consumers who had invested in it. Leading the lawsuit is BSV Claims Limited, backed by prominent figures such as Lord David Currie, Lord Andrew Tyrie, and Sir Robert Buckland.
The class action lawsuit is filed on behalf of an estimated 244,000 British investors in BSV and is funded by Softwhale Limited, with the lawsuit being “opt out” – meaning all investors would be eligible for damages unless they explicitly opt out. The lawsuit also includes evidence related to tweets and arguments made by the exchanges at the time of delisting, with the value of BSV plummeting after the delisting. Binance has argued that the case should be partly thrown out, claiming that investors made voluntary decisions to hold onto BSV and were free to invest in alternatives.
Kraken has described the lawsuit as “baseless.” The current three-day hearing is part of BSV Claims Limited’s efforts to get their class action certified with a collective proceedings order, and if granted, the case would advance to trial with a decision on damages potentially taking two to three years.