BiT Global has dropped the lawsuit against the delisting of Bitcoin wrapped by Coinbase
On June 7th, BiT Global and Coinbase jointly submitted documents in court. BiT Global agreed to withdraw the lawsuit against the Bitcoin trading platform Coinbase, ending the legal dispute that lasted for six months. Both parties agreed to bear the legal costs respectively, and the settlement terms were not further disclosed.
The lawsuit originated from Coinbase’s removal of wrapped Bitcoin (wBTC) from its platform. In December 2024, a few weeks after Coinbase announced the delisting of wBTC, BiT Global filed a lawsuit in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California. BiT Global said that Coinbase’s move was aimed at promoting its competing product cbBTC, damaging the liquidity and reputation of wBTC and violating state and federal competition laws.
Coinbase stated that the delisting of wBTC was due to concerns over the “unacceptable risks” associated with Sun Yuchen. Sun Yuchen is the founder of TRON. In August 2024, he established a connection with wBTC through collaboration. Coinbase is concerned that wBTC might “fall into the hands of Sun Yuchen”, posing a threat to user security and market integrity.
However, in March this year, Judge Araseli Martine-Olkin rejected BiT Global’s motion for a preliminary injunction, ruling that the company failed to prove that delisting would cause imminent harm. At a hearing in May, the judge hinted that she was inclined to approve Coinbase’s motion to dismiss the case, citing the lack of legal basis to proceed with the lawsuit. Under this circumstance, BiT Global chose to drop the lawsuit before the official ruling was issued.
After the lawsuit was dismissed, Paul Grewal, Coinbase’s Chief legal officer, stated on social media that this significant victory affirms their clear right to manage security and risks for Coinbase users, and Coinbase will not be forced to continue listing any assets that pose risks to customers.
This incident highlights that in the cryptocurrency industry, which lacks unified regulation, custody decisions and token listing policies are becoming the focus of controversy. Although wBTC remains the main token wrapped around Bitcoin by market capitalization, Coinbase’s cbBTC has grown rapidly in terms of applications since its launch.
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