Following a lawsuit filed recently in the United States against Bitfinex, the exchange is now facing additional legal challenges from another party who has filed a lawsuit of their own. The lawsuit filed on Friday in the US District Court for the Western District of Washington is the second of its kind as the exchange is already facing a suit in US District Court for the Southern District of New York from October with similar allegations.
The exchange and its sister company Tether are vehemently denying the charges. Moreover, they seem to be threatening with countersuits if the current legal proceedings exonerate them: “to be clear, there will be no nuisance settlements or settlements of any kind reached. Instead, all claims raised across both actions will be vigorously contested and ultimately disposed of in due course. Once they are, Bitfinex and Tether will fully evaluate their legal options against those bringing and promoting the baseless claims.”
The allegations against the exchange may be without merit, but it will be important to see how the courts evaluate the actions taken by the exchange in the past that led to such accusations of price manipulation. Given that digital asset trading is a new market, there may be some challenges to understanding the full scope of what may or may not have happened at Bitfinex.