Plaintiffs
in
an
ongoing
class
action
lawsuit
against
Tether
and
Bitfinex
have
filed
a
new,
slimmed-down
complaint
accusing
the
crypto
companies
of
manipulating
the
crypto
markets
and
violating
antitrust
laws.
The
second
amended
complaint,
filed
in
the
Southern
District
of
New
York
(SDNY)
on
Monday,
accuses
Tether
and
its
sister
crypto
exchange
Bitfinex
of
operating
a
“sophisticated
scheme
to
artificially
inflate
the
price
of
cryptocurrencies”
by
pushing
Tether’s
dollar-backed
stablecoin,
USDT,
into
the
cryptomarket
without
it
being
fully
backed
by
U.S.
dollars,
therefore
“creating
the
illusion
of
increased
demand”
for
cryptocurrencies,
“facilitating
trading
of
[cryptocurrencies]
on
credit
and
loaned
funds”
and
ultimately
driving
up
crypto
prices.
The
complaint
is
the
third
to
be
filed
in
the
same
case,
overseen
by
U.S.
District
Judge
Katherine
Polk
Failla.
The
first
complaint
was
filed
in
2019
and
an
amended
complaint
followed
in
2020.
The
case
has
had
several
hiccups,
including
the
removal
of
the
original
plaintiffs’
counsel,
crypto
law
firm
Roche
Freedman
(now
called
Freedman
Norman
Friedland),
after
video
recordings
of
attorney
Kyle
Roche
appearing
to
admit
to
filing
frivolous
investor
lawsuits
to
help
client,
surfaced
in
2022.
In
the
newest
iteration
of
the
complaint,
attorneys
for
the
plaintiffs
levied
three
causes
of
action
against
the
defendants
–
violating
the
Commodities
Exchange
Act
(CEA)
via
market
manipulation,
monopolization,
and
agreement
in
restraint
of
trade
–
the
latter
two
causes
of
action
both
alleged
violations
of
the
Sherman
Antitrust
Act.
It’s
a
slimmed
down
version
of
the
previous
complaints:
the
original
complaint
contained
eight
causes
of
action,
and
the
amended
complaint
contained
12.
The
suit
contained
chat
and
deposition
logs
from
the
companies’
operators,
allegedly
admitting
to
manipulative
actions.
“[Tether
Chief
Financial
Officer
Giancarlo]
Devasini
also
acknowledged
at
his
deposition
that
issuing
a
substantial
credit
line
‘that
is
not
backed
by
anything
of
an
enormous
amount
of
money’
would
cause
customers
to
‘use
this
fake
money
to
buy
an
enormous
amount
of
Bitcoin
and,
therefore,
the
price
will
increase,'”
the
suit
said.
A
spokesperson
for
Tether
said
the
claims
in
the
second
amended
complaint,
“as
with
the
prior
complaint”
are
“wholly
without
merit.”
“Ultimately,
it
is
the
facts
and
evidence
that
matters,
not
plaintiffs’
false
and
misleading
allegations,”
the
spokesperson
for
Tether
said.
“We
remain
confident
that
we
will
prevail
in
this
litigation,
and
that
plaintiffs’
nonsensical
conspiracy
theories
will
be
rejected.”
Last
year,
lawyers
for
Tether
and
Bitfinex
filed
a
memorandum
of
opposition
against
the
plaintiffs’
motion
to
amend
their
complaint
for
a
second
time,
calling
it
“in
reality
a
motion
for
leave
to
start
over”
after
the
discovery
process
had
concluded,
but
in
June,
Failla
ultimately
granted
the
plaintiffs’
motion
for
leave
to
file
the
second
amended
complaint.
The
lead
plaintiffs
in
this
case
are
U.S.-based
crypto
traders
Matthew
Script,
Benjamin
Leibowitz,
Jason
Leibowitz,
and
Pinchas
Goldshtein,
though
several
other
civil
class
action
suits
and
their
plaintiffs
have
also
joined
the
case.
Attorneys
for
the
plaintiffs
did
not
respond
to
CoinDesk’s
request
for
comment.
