UK Court of Appeal Partially Dismisses $11.9 Billion Bitcoin SV (BSV) Delisting Lawsuit Against Binance

The UK Court of Appeal has delivered a decisive ruling in favor of Binance and several crypto exchanges. It partially dismissed a $11.9000000000000004m lawsuit over the delisting of Bitcoin SV (BSV).

The UK Court of Appeal has partially dismissed a lawsuit against Binance and several crypto exchanges, rejecting claims by investors who argued they were deprived of potential returns when Bitcoin SV (BSV) was delisted from major trading platforms in 2019.

The case, which began six years ago, involved a coordinated decision by Binance, Kraken, ShapeShift, and Bittylicious to delist BSV, a Bitcoin fork associated with entrepreneur Craig Wright. Investors, who banded together to sue the exchanges in England, claimed the move unfairly prevented BSV from gaining value.

The plaintiffs alleged that the exchanges acted anti-competitively, and that BSV’s price would have increased significantly if it had remained accessible on major trading platforms. However, the court rejected those arguments.

In a judgment dated May 21, Sir Geoffrey Vos, who authored the ruling, stated that investors were not legally entitled to any particular market performance from the cryptocurrency.

“It is common ground that BSV was not ‘a unique crypto-currency without reasonably similar substitutes’,” the judge wrote.

The court held that other digital assets could have served as alternatives, and investors should have adjusted their positions accordingly. “They had a duty to mitigate their losses,” Vos added, emphasizing that market participants must respond proactively to protect their investments.

A key part of the lawsuit was the claim of “loss of a chance,” the supposed opportunity to profit from future BSV gains had it not been delisted. The court rejected this as speculative, noting that cryptocurrency investments are inherently volatile.

“Cryptos are, by nature, volatile investments,” the court ruled, stating that it would not award compensation based on imagined profits. Only verifiable losses could be considered for compensation.

This ruling has implications for crypto-related lawsuits, as it sets a precedent against entertaining claims based on missed opportunities or unproven financial projections in the rapidly evolving crypto space.

The decision marks a significant legal victory for Binance and the other exchanges involved. While the lawsuit was only partially dismissed, the court’s rejection of the central claims undermines the bulk of the plaintiffs’ case.

Crucially, the ruling clarifies that crypto exchanges are not obligated to keep every token listed, nor are they responsible for the market effects of delisting decisions unless direct harm can be proven.

Even if investors were unaware of the delisting events at the time, the court ruled their claims would be limited to the token’s value before delisting plus any directly quantifiable losses, not potential future profits.

For Binance, the timing is strategic. The company is also attempting to dismiss a separate claim brought by the FTX estate, which seeks $1.76 billion in damages.

In that case, Binance argues that the FTX collapse was due to internal mismanagement and fraud, not any action by Binance. With the UK Court’s reasoning in its favor, Binance may add momentum to its broader legal defense strategy.

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