Share this article
Plaintiffs Move to Combine Their Market-Manipulation Lawsuits Against Bitfinex and Tether
Three class action lawsuits alleging Bitfinex and Tether manipulated the bitcoin market are moving to consolidate, with the stablecoin issuer promising to fight the claims.
By Danny Nelson
Updated Sep 13, 2021, 12:09 p.m. Published Jan 17, 2020, 10:05 p.m.
Plaintiffs in three separate putative class action lawsuits against Bitfinex and Tether have moved to consolidate their cases, according to a Thursday court filing.
STORY CONTINUES BELOW
Don't miss another story.Subscribe to the Crypto Daybook Americas Newsletter today. See all newsletters
Court filings by David Leibowitz et al, Eric Young et al, and Bryan Faubus et al, accuse the sister companies of manipulating the crypto markets. Their cases share common threads,filings show, including allegations that Bitfinex and Tether manipulated the price of bitcoin and bitcoin futures in violation of federal law.
All three cases were filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Defendants did not object to the plaintiffs' proposed consolidation, with Tether writing in a press statement Friday it “looks forward” to debunking the “fanciful accusations.”
“Tether will continue to defend the digital token ecosystem and the many contributions of the cryptocurrency community, and will not now or in the future pay any amount to settle plaintiffs' claims,” the statement said.
The consolidation sheds some light on Young’s decision last week to withdraw and refile in the Southern District of New York. At first unexplained, it now appears that the plaintiffs abandoned the original Western District of Washington jurisdiction so they could join the other two in New York.
Tether anticipated a fourth class action suit, filed by Joseph Ebanks on Thursday, may also join in.
Read the full filing below:
UPDATE (JAN. 18, 18:50 UTC): This article has been updated to clarify that a judge must still approve the consolidation.
More For You
What to know:
- As of October 2025, GoPlus has generated $4.7M in total revenue across its product lines. The GoPlus App is the primary revenue driver, contributing $2.5M (approx. 53%), followed by the SafeToken Protocol at $1.7M.
- GoPlus Intelligence's Token Security API averaged 717 million monthly calls year-to-date in 2025 , with a peak of nearly 1 billion calls in February 2025. Total blockchain-level requests, including transaction simulations, averaged an additional 350 million per month.
- Since its January 2025 launch , the $GPS token has registered over $5B in total spot volume and $10B in derivatives volume in 2025. Monthly spot volume peaked in March 2025 at over $1.1B , while derivatives volume peaked the same month at over $4B.
More For You
Bitcoin’s Deep Correction Sets Stage for December Rebound, Says K33 Research
K33 Research says market fear is outweighing fundamentals as bitcoin nears key levels. December could offer an entry point for bold investors.
What to know:
- K33 Research says bitcoin’s steep correction shows signs of bottoming, with December potentially marking a turning point.
- The firm has argued that the market is overreacting to long-term risks while ignoring near-term signals of strength, like low leverage and solid support levels.
- With likely policy shifts ahead and cautious positioning in futures, K33 sees more upside potential than risk of another major collapse.
Top Stories
