Binance Prevails in $11.9B BSV Lawsuit as UK Court Rules Investors Lack Claim to Crypto Earnings

• Binance and other exchanges win partial dismissal of $11.9B BSV lawsuit.
• The court says investors can’t claim damages for missed profit opportunities.
• The verdict may shape future legal cases in crypto delistings.

The UK Court of Appeal has delivered a decisive ruling in favor of Binance and several crypto exchanges. It partially dismissed a $11.9 billion lawsuit over the delisting of Bitcoin SV (BSV). The judgment on May 21 found that investors could not claim damages for hypothetical profits they might have earned had the token remained listed.

Background: Six Years of Legal Dispute

The case stemmed from the coordinated 2019 decision by Binance, Kraken, ShapeShift, and Bittylicious to delist BSV, a Bitcoin fork associated with entrepreneur Craig Wright. Investors behind the lawsuit argued that the delistings unfairly prevented BSV from gaining value and deprived them of potential returns.

Related: BSV and XRP Supporter Argue Over Altcoins’ Superiority

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.

Court: Investors Not Owed Profit Potential

The UK Court rejected those arguments, stating that investors were not legally entitled to any particular market performance from the cryptocurrency. Sir Geoffrey Vos, who authored the judgment, noted that BSV was not “a unique crypto without reasonably similar substitutes.”

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 wrote, emphasizing that market participants must respond proactively to protect their investments.

No Damages for Missed Gains

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 sends a clear message: courts will not entertain lawsuits based on missed opportunities or unproven financial projections in the crypto space.

Legal Win for Exchanges

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.

Notably, 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.

Related: Altcoin Surge: LTC, BSV, BEAM, SOL, and ARB Lead the Way

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