Plaintiffs in a long-running class-action lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex have filed an amended complaint, accusing the companies of manipulating cryptocurrency prices through a deceptive scheme involving Tether’s dollar-backed stablecoin, USDT. The amended complaint was filed in the Southern District of New York.
Allegations of Market Manipulation
The complaint claims that Tether and Bitfinex conspired to inflate cryptocurrency prices, including Bitcoin, by executing large, strategically timed purchases designed to create the illusion of substantial market demand. According to the plaintiffs, these purchases were funded with billions of dollars in USDT, which Tether falsely represented as being backed one-to-one by U.S. dollars.
Excerpt from the complaint: “In reality, Tether issued billions of USDT to itself with no U.S. dollar backing — simply creating the USDT out of thin air. This deception ultimately resulted in billions of dollars of damage to innocent crypto commodity purchasers.”
Legal Violations Claimed
The plaintiffs allege that Tether and Bitfinex’s actions violated both the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA) and the Sherman Antitrust Act. They argue that the companies’ scheme led to artificially inflated prices and significant financial harm to investors.
Previous Legal Challenges
This case, initiated in 2019, has seen multiple delays, including the removal of the plaintiffs’ original legal counsel in 2022. The current amended complaint is the third filed in this ongoing litigation. Tether and Bitfinex challenged the plaintiffs’ request to amend the complaint in 2023, dismissing it as a desperate attempt to salvage a failing case.
Defendants’ argument: “The reason for this dramatic change of course is clear: two years of fact discovery — including more than a million pages of document discovery and numerous depositions — have not revealed a single shred of evidence supporting the market manipulation scheme alleged in the complaint.”
Plaintiffs’ Expert Analysis
Despite the defendants’ objections, the plaintiffs maintain that expert analysis supports their claims. They allege that Bitfinex and Tether issued unbacked USDT and used it to purchase large quantities of crypto commodities, artificially inflating market prices.
An exhibit from the amended filing highlights alleged suspicious trading activity on the Bitstamp exchange, illustrating the purported market manipulation.
As the legal battle continues, both sides prepare for further discovery and potential court proceedings. The outcome of this case could have significant implications for regulatory practices and investor protections within the cryptocurrency market.
