The US Appeals Court Rules in Favor of Plaintiff in Binance.US Class-Action Lawsuit

In a recent development, a US appeals court has made a significant ruling in a class-action lawsuit against Binance.US, the American subsidiary of the global Binance exchange. The court’s decision partially overturned the dismissal of the lawsuit, stating that the plaintiff, Ryan Cox, had valid claims against both Binance.US and CoinMarketCap for allegedly manipulating the price of the Hex token.

Ryan Cox filed a class-action lawsuit in 2021, accusing Binance Capital Management and Binance.US of manipulating the ranking of HEX on CoinMarketCap. Cox claimed that HEX was the best-performing cryptocurrency of 2020 and alleged that the defendants suppressed its value while inflating the value of other cryptocurrencies for their financial gain. Initially, a district court judge dismissed the case in February 2023, citing a lack of a direct connection between Binance.US’s activities and Arizona, where the case was filed. However, the appellate court disagreed with this decision.

The appeals court found that the district court had personal jurisdiction over the US defendants due to their significant presence in the country. As a result, the court upheld Cox’s claims of price manipulation against Binance.US and sent the case back for further legal proceedings. The ruling emphasized that the complaint alleged colorable price manipulation claims against the US defendants, prompting the reversal of the district court’s dismissal of the claims.

HEX is a digital asset launched in 2019 by Richard Heart, and it has been embroiled in several controversies since its inception. Notably, the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has classified HEX as a security token, and Heart has faced lawsuits for violating federal securities laws and defrauding investors of millions of dollars.

Overall, the US appeals court’s ruling in favor of the plaintiff in the Binance.US class-action lawsuit marks a significant step in holding crypto platforms accountable for alleged price manipulation. This decision could have far-reaching implications for the regulation of digital assets in the United States and beyond.