Binance has moved to dismiss most of the claims in a UK case concerning its delisting of Bitcoin SV (BSV), as reported by Reuters on June 5. The case also involves Kraken, Shapeshift, and Bittylicious as defendants. BitMEX Research noted that legal representatives from six companies linked to these exchanges appeared before the UK Competition Appeal Tribunal for a hearing.

During the hearing, Binance requested the dismissal of the part of the case asserting that BSV had the potential to become a major cryptocurrency. Brian Kennelly, Binance's lawyer, argued that investors who held BSV during its delisting did so voluntarily and had the option to exchange it for other assets.

While Binance and the other companies do not oppose the certification of the case under the UK’s collective proceedings regime, which would lead to a trial, Binance’s motion seeks to dismiss the bulk of the claims brought by plaintiff BSV Claims Ltd. This includes approximately £9 billion out of £10 billion sought in damages ($11.5 billion out of $12.8 billion).

The plaintiff alleges in its original statement that exchanges colluded to harm BSV’s prospects and orchestrated its delisting, which led to a significant drop in BSV’s value and deprived investors of a meaningful opportunity to withdraw their holdings. The forced conversions reportedly caused additional financial losses to investors, purportedly violating the UK’s Competition Act of 1998.

The case represents 240,000 UK investors who were affected by the delisting decisions made by these exchanges in April 2019. The delistings occurred amid legal disputes involving Craig Wright, the leader of Bitcoin SV, who claims to be the pseudonymous creator of Bitcoin, Satoshi Nakamoto. Binance, Kraken, Shapeshift, and Bittylicious cited various reasons for delisting BSV, with Kraken specifically mentioning threats and legal actions from the BSV team as a factor.

Binance’s former CEO, Changpeng Zhao, publicly contested Wright’s claims just before the delisting announcement, while Shapeshift and Bittylicious referenced Binance’s influence in their decisions to delist BSV in their communications on social media platforms. Kraken referenced a poll indicating support from 70,000 users as part of its rationale for delisting BSV, which is now being cited as evidence of collusion in the ongoing legal proceedings.