Binance Wins Partial Victory: UK Court Dismisses Bitcoin SV Lawsuit
The UK Court of Appeal delivered a significant blow to Bitcoin SV (BSV) investors in their multi-billion pound lawsuit against Binance and other crypto exchanges. The court partially dismissed the case, rejecting the investors’ claim for speculative damages based on BSV’s hypothetical growth.
The judgment, issued on May 21st, specifically targeted “sub-class B” investors – those who held BSV during the delisting period. Their claim for over £8.9 billion ($11.9 billion) in damages was based on the argument that Binance’s delisting prevented them from profiting from a potential surge in BSV’s value. The court refuted this “foregone growth effect” theory, emphasizing that BSV wasn’t unique and had readily available substitutes like Bitcoin (BTC) and Bitcoin Cash (BCH).
A key element in the court’s decision was the investors’ failure to mitigate their losses. The court emphasized that investors had the opportunity to sell their BSV holdings and reinvest elsewhere, thus lessening the impact of the delisting. Sir Geoffrey Vos, Master of the Rolls, stated clearly: “They had a duty to mitigate their losses. They cannot recover losses that they could reasonably have mitigated.”
The court also rejected arguments concerning the “market mitigation rule” and the “loss of a chance” to profit from future price appreciation, citing the inherent volatility of cryptocurrencies. The ruling suggests that even if some investors were unaware of the delisting, their claims are capped by the value of their holdings before the event, plus any quantifiable consequential losses.
This partial dismissal marks a substantial victory for Binance, which has also recently filed a motion to dismiss a separate $1.76 billion lawsuit brought by the FTX estate, arguing that FTX’s collapse resulted from internal fraud, not external factors.
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