Bitfinex Files Motion to Dismiss Bitcoin Market Manipulation Lawsuit

Crypto exchange Bitfinex today presented a motion to dismiss a lawsuit that alleges the exchange engaged in market manipulation. Bitfinex claims there is no proof behind the allegations.  

Bitfinex has been accused of manipulating the crypto commodities market using Tether (USDT). The Plaintiffs allege that billions worth of USDT was issued to Bitfinex, yet Tether did not receive the equivalent sum in US dollars in return. The Plaintiffs also allege that the exchange used this USDT in order to inflate the price of other crypto assets, including Bitcoin. But Bitfinex is having none of it.

Bitfinex Files Motion to Dismiss Market Manipulation Lawsuit

“The CAC spins a fantastical tale alleging an elaborate scheme of epic fraud. But innuendo is insufficient to state a claim,” the motion stated. 

Bitfinex’s counter arguments claim there was no knowledge of any manipulation, and that the accusations also fail as a matter of law. 

There is not a “single sustainable allegation that the Exchange Defendants—Bittrex, Inc. and Poloneix, LLC—had any knowledge of or role in the scheme,” the motion added.

The allegations, according to Bitfinex, rest upon two assumptions rather than facts. Namely, that Bitfinex owned the trading accounts that allegedly engaged in manipulative trading, and that the exchange knew that these accounts were engaged in manipulative trading. Bitfinex claimed there is no proof for either of these assumptions. 

Brought under the Sherman Antitrust Act, the Commodity Exchange Act, and the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, Bitfiniex argued the accusations have also failed legally, as the Plaintiffs have not plead sufficient facts under any of these federal statutes.

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