Binance Wins Legal Victory in BSV Delisting Case

An effort by Bitcoin SV investors to seek billions in compensation from major crypto exchanges has largely fallen flat in the UK Court of Appeal.

The case, targeting Binance and others over the 2019 delisting of BSV, was mostly dismissed in a May 21 ruling.

At the heart of the lawsuit was a demand for £8.9 billion ($11.9 billion) in damages from investors who claimed they lost out on potential profits when BSV was removed from several trading platforms. They argued that, if not delisted, BSV might have climbed to the level of top-tier cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin or Bitcoin Cash.

The court rejected this idea, calling it purely speculative. Judges noted that BSV wasn’t a unique asset and had viable substitutes. They also found that investors had reasonable opportunities to limit any losses by reallocating their holdings at the time.

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Master of the Rolls Sir Geoffrey Vos made clear that compensation can’t be awarded for missed profits based on “what could have been,” especially in the unpredictable world of crypto. Claims tied to a “loss of a chance” for future gains were similarly struck down as legally unsound.

The court also upheld the application of the market mitigation rule—used for tradable assets—stating it applied to BSV and that any losses should be measured soon after the delisting occurred.

While some minor aspects of the case can continue, the court has shut down the bulk of the lawsuit, ruling that even uninformed holders wouldn’t be entitled to more than their token value at the time plus provable losses.

Alexander Stefanov