Coinbase files a motion to dismiss BiT Global’s lawsuit over the delisting of wBTC

The exchange attributed the delisting of the asset to the risk of it coming under the control of Justin Sun

23.01.2025 - 13:30

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3 min

What’s new? Lawyers for the leading US centralized crypto exchange (CEX) Coinbase have asked the US District Court for the Northern District of California to dismiss a lawsuit filed against it by crypto custodian BiT Global over the delisting of a wrapped bitcoin it issued under the ticker wBTC.

Material by Cointelegraph

What else is known? Coinbase removed wBTC from its platform late last year, shortly after it announced the launch of its own wrapped bitcoin, cbBTC, on its Layer 2 (L2) Base network based on the Ethereum blockchain.

As for wBTC, it was originally operated by custodian BitGo, which announced a joint venture with BiT Global last August.

The latter is partially owned by TRON blockchain founder and head of HTX and Poloniex exchanges Justin Sun, and its involvement in the management of wBTC has drawn criticism from some in the crypto community.

In a January 21 filing, Coinbase asked the court to dismiss BiT Global’s lawsuit, citing the firm’s affiliation with Sun. The exchange’s lawyers said the decision to delist was made due to the “unacceptable risk that control of wBTC would fall into the hands of Mr. Sun.” The court will consider the motion at a hearing on April 3.

Coinbase may stop trading USDT in the US if new rules for regulating stablecoins are introduced

Earlier, the exchange has already disabled the ability to trade the asset for European users

Earlier, Democratic Congressman Gerald Connolly called for an investigation into Donald Trump’s crypto projects, including the DeFi platform World Liberty Financial.

He recalled that the largest investor in this project is Justin Sun, who is accused of securities fraud. According to the official, this connection creates risks of foreign influence on US politics.

It is noteworthy that in 2023 Coinbase itself also received a lawsuit in 2023 with a charge of unregistered offering of securities in the form of cryptocurrencies.

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