A court has dismissed a lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex for lack of merit. According to a Nov. 15 press release, the court officially dismissed a class action lawsuit filed against Bitfinex and Tether because the plaintiffs in the case have decided not to appeal the court’s ruling.
After Chief Judge Laura Taylor Swain of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York denied Shawn Dolifka’s request to amend his meritless class action lawsuit against Tether and Bitfinex, Dolifka chose not to appeal the decision.
Judge Swain’s decision to dismiss the case and rule in favor of Tether and Bitfinex is now final, ending the matter in all respects. This means that Dolifka’s complaint against the companies has been dismissed, and they have been cleared of all allegations.
In response to the final dismissal of the lawsuit, Tether and Bitfinex said that it was the “right decision” for the plaintiffs to give up on the appeal.
Tether and Bitfinex added that they will continue to “fight baseless litigation” in the future, as they have always done.
The plaintiffs alleged that Tether and Bitfinex misled consumers about the properties of Tether’s stablecoin USDT and falsely disclosed information about its reserves. The lawsuit further argued that the stablecoin was not backed 1:1 by U.S. dollars as the companies had claimed. The plaintiffs, who had purchased USDT in 2019, argued that they would not have done so had they known the representations were false.
However, Judge Swain dismissed the complaint at an early stage of the proceedings, ruling that the plaintiffs had failed to provide sufficient evidence that they had relied on the alleged false statements. This was a crucial element for the breach of contract and unjust enrichment claims brought by the plaintiffs.
The court determined that the complaint lacked “plausible allegations of injury” because there was no evidence that USDT’s value had diminished at any point. This was a key factor in the court’s decision to dismiss the complaint.
