- Coinbase can delist wrapped bitcoin, according to a California judge who rejected BiT Global’s plea for a temporary restraining injunction.
- After its custodian teamed up with the Hong Kong-based company connected to Justin Sun, Coinbase declared it will discontinue the tokenized bitcoin offering.
- According to a Coinbase official, the exchange might consider punishing the plaintiffs for filing a baseless complaint.
On the first trial date of the action filed by BiT Global, a company associated to Justin Sun, against Coinbase, a California judge has decided that Coinbase can delist wrapped bitcoin (wBTC). Last month, Coinbase declared that it would eliminate wBTC on December 19.
BiT Global asked for a temporary restraining order last week in an attempt to stop Coinbase from taking down the tokenized bitcoin product. The Hong Kong-based company contended that doing so would result in immediate and irreversible damage.
But on Wednesday, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín ruled that there was no reason why Coinbase couldn’t take the asset down, which has seen a significant change in recent months.
They were attempting to halt our progress. Today, the court ruled that they did not meet any of the requirements.
Months after its previous custodian BitGo joined forces with BiT Global to assist in managing the $14 billion asset, Coinbase declared in November that it will delist wBTC. The exchange claimed in a court statement yesterday that Sun, a BiT Global advisor, has been the target of “repeated” accusations of “financial misconduct.”
We are a privately held business. We have the authority to decide who should or shouldn’t be on our platform, even if those determinations are incorrect. The notion that we are a utility that you have the right to connect to, similar to an electrical or water company, is simply untrue.
BiT Global filed a lawsuit against Coinbase, alleging that the company’s decision to delist wBTC and introduce cbBTC, a competing tokenized version of bitcoin, was a violation of several federal and state statutes intended to foster fair competition.
Additionally, the company charged Coinbase with libel, which is cryptocurrency jargon for “spreading fear, uncertainty, and doubt,” which harmed BiT Global’s brand and jeopardized the sustainability of wBTC. BiT Global pointed out that although the exchange will remove wBTC after a “periodic review,” it has featured memecoins with little to no use, such as MOG, PEPE, and WIF.
Everything is finished
With a market valuation of about $14 billion, WBTC, the second-largest wrapped cryptocurrency coin, was introduced in 2019. In the Ethereum ecosystem, it enables traders to employ their bitcoin holdings in decentralized apps. Since its September introduction, Coinbase Wrapped BTC (CbBTC), which is likewise backed 1:1 by bitcoin, has seen its market capitalization increase to more than $2.1 billion.
By pointing out that less than 1% of wBTC trading activity occurs on its platform, Coinbase refuted allegations that it was trying to control the wrapped bitcoin market.
According to the Coinbase spokesperson, BiT Global or its retained legal firm, Kneupper & Covey, may face sanctions from the exchange for making such a baseless allegation. He claimed that Judge Martínez-Olguín came across as “well prepared” and that he was instantly dubious of the plaintiff’s claims.
They are attempting to claim that they have the right to distribute on Coinbase on the false pretext that we are the only company in town, despite the fact that there is no proof or even a claim that any customer has left BiT Global as a result of Coinbase’s actions.
Despite earlier claims from the BitGo CEO that Sun was a significant contributor to the cooperation, Sun has apparently attempted to disassociate himself from the protocol since the wBTC announcement.
I wish you luck, Mr. Sun, if you want to start winning over a federal court the way you do with prisoners. The outcome will not be favorable, I predict.
Disclaimer : This article was created for informational purposes only and should not be taken as investment advice. An asset’s past performance does not predict its future returns. Before making an investment, please conduct your own research, as digital assets like cryptocurrencies are highly risky and volatile financial instruments.
