Coinbase refutes ‘baseless’ BiT Global wBTC suit

No law requires Coinbase to “compromise the integrity of its platform” by doing business with BiT Global, linked to Justin Sun, the American crypto exchange wrote.

Coinbase request a US court to dismiss BiT Global’s Northern California lawsuit seeking billion-dollar relief and a temporary restraining order on wrapped Bitcoins (wBTC) is struck off.

BiT Global, affiliated with Justin Sun continued Coinbase on December 13 for planning to remove wrapped Bitcoin (BTC) assets of its US-based exchange. BiT Global claimed that the delisting of wBTC was illegal, would cause irreparable harm to the token’s economy, and was unjustified because Coinbase listed low-level cryptocurrencies like meme coins.

Additionally, the launch of cbBTC violated antitrust laws and threatened to create a Coinbase-controlled monopoly in the tokenized Bitcoin market.

The crypto exchange argued that California’s unfair competition law was unenforceable. ChallengeLlama confirmed that cbBTC ranked outside the top 10 tokenized BTC assets by market capitalization.

Coinbase has the right to choose who to do business with, and there is no law requiring it to allow bad actors or suspected bad actors to access its exchange… Coinbase has nothing approaching monopoly power, and because that its decision to delist wBTC was appropriate and justified. on the scrutiny it undertook and the unacceptable risk of doing business with an entity associated with Mr. Sun.

Coinbase Response to BiT Global Lawsuit

According to the Dec. 17 court filing, significant changes in wBTC’s management, particularly Justin Sun’s majority control over Bitcoin reserves, have prompted Coinbase and other entities to reconsider their support of the asset.

The Securities and Exchange Commission charge Sun and three of its wholly owned companies with federal violations. Additionally, the FBI has reportedly opened an investigation into possible terrorism financing involving Sun.

The U.S. Department of Justice has not charged Sun as of press time, nor have authorities issued an arrest warrant for Tron (TRX) founder.

Coinbase said its new wBTC risk assessments, in line with corporate listing standards, raised red flags, primarily due to Sun’s involvement. The exchange called its decision “common sense” and necessary to protect its customers. The company also emphasized that delisting wBTC would not impact the token’s overall on-chain activity, which largely takes place on other platforms.

BiT also cannot claim harm, much less irreparable harm, resulting from its delisting from an exchange where less than 1% of transactions involving wBTC are carried out. This may be why BiT left its demands for almost a month before taking legal action, denying any urgency for aid.

The US crypto titan has asked the California court to rule against BiT Global’s TRO request and billion-dollar relief package, due to the company’s ties to an allegedly indicted individual and d ‘a fabricated emergency regarding wBTC.