Cryptocurrency Securities Class Action Litigation 20…

Footnotes

¹ This article relies primarily on data from the Securities Class Action Clearinghouse at Stanford Law School. Current Trends in Securities Class Action FilingsStanford Law School Securities Class Action Clearinghouse (last accessed February 14, 2024).

² Olga Kharif and Yueqi Yang, Crypto Hedge Funds Prepare for 'Token Mania' After 2023 BounceBloomberg (December 27, 2023).

³ Andrés Hecht, Bitcoin: will cryptocurrencies continue to recover?, Barchart (November 10, 2023); Teresa Xie, Bitcoin ETF Exuberance Fuels Four-Week 'Nothing for Sale' RallyBloomberg (November 10, 2023).

⁴ Based on 2020-2023 data for cryptocurrency securities class action lawsuit filings. Current Trends in Securities Class Action Filings, supra note 1.

⁵ Richard Hawes, et al. v. Argo Blockchain plc, et al. (“American Depositary Shares Securities Litigation”)23-CV-07305 (SDNY January 26, 2023), was originally filed in EDNY and transferred to SDNY on August 18, 2023.

⁶ Layer Zero, et al. v. Pollen Mobile LLC, et al. (“Pollen Coin Values ​​Litigation”)23-CV-04023 (ND Cal. Aug. 9, 2023).

⁷ Securities Class Action Filings 2023 Year in ReviewCornerstone Research 2 (2023), “Filings involving allegations against cryptocurrency exchanges, including the five filings with multiple cryptocurrency classifications, accounted for 7 of the 14 (50%) total cryptocurrency-related filings in 2023.”

⁸ Nir Lahav, et al. v. Binance Holdings Limited, et al. (“Cryptocurrency Securities Litigation”)23-CV-05038 (ND Cal. Oct. 2, 2023), CAC at ¶ 1. Please note that herein “CAC” refers to the “Class Action Complaint,” “ACAC” refers to the “Amended Class Action Complaint” “FACAC” refers to the “First Amended Class Action,” and “CCC” refers to the “Amended Consolidated Complaint” for the applicable subpoenas.

⁹ Trey Greene, et al. against Zac Prince, and others. (“BlockFi Interest Account Securities Litigation”)23-CV-01165 (DNJ February 28, 2023), CAC at ¶¶ 2, 3. BlockFi is bankrupt, so this lawsuit is filed against, Among othersits former executives and members of its board of directors.

¹⁰ Mislav Basic, et al. v. BProtocol Foundation, et al. (“BNT Token Securities Litigation”)23-CV-00533 (WD Tex. May 11, 2023), FACAC at ¶ 1.

^eleven William McGreevy, et al. v. Digital Currency Group, Inc., et al. (“Digital Asset Lending and Securities Litigation”), 23-CV-00082 (D. Conn. January 23, 2023), Am. Compl. at ¶ 3. Genesis Global Capital is bankrupt, so this lawsuit is filed against, Among othersits parent company and former executives.

¹² Luis Zhao, et al. against Eqonex Limited and others. (“Eqonex Limited Securities Litigation”), 23-CV-03346 (SDNY April 20, 2023), ACAC at ¶ 5. Eqonex is bankrupt and is present in the lawsuit as a non-party defendant; This lawsuit is filed against, Among othersits former executives and members of its board of directors.

¹³ Andrew Samuels v. United States. Lido DAO et al. (“LDO Token Securities Litigation”), 23-CV-06492 (ND Cal. Dec. 17, 2023), Compl. at 1.

¹⁴ Justin Dufoe et al. v. DraftKings Inc., et al. (“NFT Securities Litigation”), 23-CV-10524 (D. Mass. March 9, 2023), Am. Compl. at 1.

^fifteen BNT Token Securities LitigationFACAC in ¶ 4.

^sixteen ID. in ¶¶ 6, 12.

¹⁷ ID. at ¶ 59.

¹⁸ ID. in ¶¶ 7, 91.

¹⁹ ID. at ¶¶ 180, 181.

^twenty ID. at ¶¶ 182, 184.

^twenty-one ID. at ¶¶ 224-227.

²² ID. at ¶¶ 235-237.

²³ ID. at ¶¶ 243-245, 251-254.

²⁴ American Depositary Shares Securities LitigationACAC at ¶ 23.

²⁵ Jaime R. Moreno, et al. v. Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc., et al. (“Marathon Digital Holdings, Inc. Securities Litigation.”)23-CV-00470 (D. Nev. March 30, 2023), CAC at ¶ 2.

²⁶ Parker Pelham et al. v. VBit Technologies Corp., et al. (“VBit Mining Contract Securities Litigation”)23-CV-00162 (D. Del. Feb. 13, 2023), CAC at ¶ 34.

²⁷ American Depositary Shares Securities LitigationACAC at ¶ 40.

²⁸ ID. at ¶ 63

²⁹ ID. at ¶¶ 64-65.

³⁰ ID. at ¶ 114.

³¹ ID. at ¶¶ 77-78.

³² ID. at ¶ 79.

³³ ID. at ¶¶ 67, 76, 278.

^{3. 4} ID. at ¶¶ 81, 92.

³⁵ ID. at ¶¶ 257, 269.

³⁶ NFT Securities Litigation, Am. Compl. at 1.

³⁷ LDO Token Securities Litigation, Compl. at ¶¶ 104-14.

³⁸ Pollen Coin Values ​​Litigation, Compl. at ¶¶ 114-20.

³⁹ NFT Securities Litigation, Am. Compl. at 1.

⁴⁰ ID. in ¶¶ 26, 33, 34, 63.

⁴¹ ID. at 1.

⁴² ID. at ¶¶ 158-169, 176-196.

⁴³ Mark Cullen, et al. v. Ryvyl Inc., et al. (“Ryvyl Inc. Securities Litigation.”)23-CV-00185 (SD Cal. Feb. 1, 2023), ACAC at ¶ 31.

⁴⁴ Matthew Schaeffer, et al. v. Signature Bank, et al. (“Litigation over signed bank securities”)23-CV-01921 (EDNY March 14, 2023), CCC at ¶¶ 10, 40. Regulators seized Signature Bank, so this lawsuit is filed against, Among othersits former executives and members of its board of directors.

^{Four. Five} Daniel Harper, et al. v. Shaquille O'Neal, et al. (“ASTRALes NFTs Securities Litigation”)23-CV-21912 (S.D. Fla. May 23, 2023), ACAC at ¶ 18.

⁴⁶ ASTRAL NFT Securities LitigationACAC at ¶¶ 1, 4, 140-43.

⁴⁷ ASTRAL NFT Securities LitigationCAC in ¶ 2.

⁴⁸ ASTRAL NFT Securities LitigationACAC in ¶¶ 1, 7, 19.

⁴⁹ Cf. Securities Class Action Filings 2023 Mid-Year Assessment, Cornerstone Research 2 (2023), “As a result of last year's cryptocurrency market turmoil and high-profile bankruptcies (e.g., FTX, Celsius Network, Voyager, BlockFi, and Genesis), cryptocurrencies have been subject to a greater scrutiny by US regulators.” (emphasizing the effect on the crypto market of several high-profile bankruptcies discussed in this article).

^fifty Dechert LLP, Cryptocurrency Securities Class Action Litigation Year in Review 2022 5 (March 27, 2023).

⁵¹ American Depositary Shares Securities LitigationACAC at ¶ 79.

⁵² Cryptocurrency Securities LitigationCAC in ¶ 2.

⁵³ Eqonex Limited Securities LitigationACAC at ¶ 17, 55.

⁵⁴ Pollen Coin Values ​​Litigation, Compl. at ¶¶ 63, 72.

⁵⁵ Signature Bank Securities LitigationCCC at ¶ 25.

⁵⁶ Digital Asset and Securities Lending Litigation, Am. Compl. in ¶¶ 13-14; BlockFi Interest Account Securities LitigationCAC, Certification Under Federal Securities Laws, ¶ 5 (“Plaintiff's assets are frozen and unavailable and their value is undetermined and valued at zero for purposes of estimating plaintiff's losses herein”).

⁵⁷ 20-CV-10832, 2023 WL 4507900 (SDNY July 13, 2023).

⁵⁸ See, for example, Alison Frankel, 'Ripple Effect of SEC Crypto Case Ruling Could Be Game-Changing for Class Action DefendantsReuters (July 14, 2023).

⁵⁹ 23-CV-1346, 2023 WL 4858299 (SDNY July 31, 2023).

⁶⁰ 654 F. Supplement. 3d 224 (S.D.N.Y. 2023).

⁶¹ See also Risley v. Universal Navigation Inc, et al.22-CV-2780, 2023 WL 5609200 (SDNY Aug. 29, 2023) (A case with facts similar to woodwho cited wood to conclude that the defendant was also not a seller within the meaning of the federal securities laws, which allows the court to avoid deciding whether cryptocurrencies are securities or not).