Latest Crypto Florida Class Action Targets Binance

All three suits cite state level Blue Sky laws, which may alter the crypto litigation playbook going forward

article-image

warat42/Shutterstock modified by Blockworks

share

The law firm behind recent class action suits against FTX and Voyager Digital has filed a new complaint against Binance on behalf of “hundreds of thousands of victims.” 

The Moskowitz Law Firm, led by class action veteran attorney Adam Moskowitz, filed its complaint against Binance, CEO Changpeng Zhao, and various influencers who promoted the exchange in Florida on Friday. 

The firm has focused all three of its crypto complaints on a similar issue based on state laws in Florida: Blue Sky laws, which industry participants are eyeing when it comes to the outcome of separate litigation tied to FTX.

Binance, FTX and Voyager and affiliated individuals “all sold and promoted unregistered securities,” Moskowitz told Blockworks. 

Florida’s Blue Sky laws are state-level securities fraud regulations designed to protect investors and consumers. The law requires securities to be registered in a truthful and accurate manner. 

Because crypto is not traded on a national securities exchange, the asset class can fall under state-level regulations, legal experts say, opening up the possibility for more unregistered securities complaints. 

“The state ‘Blue Sky’ theory seen here doesn’t arise in a lot of other cases when you’re dealing with nationally exchange-traded securities, because there’s a federal statute that says you can’t bring a class action for those times,” James Vivenzio, senior counsel at Perkins Coie, said during a recent webinar. 

Moskowitz and his firm have been investigating Binance and its alleged securities fraud for the past year, he said. 

The “investigation revealed that Binance is also selling unregistered securities and thus needs to be held accountable. Each and every promoter of these unregistered securities, including Miami Heat star Jimmy Butler, will be held responsible,” Moskowitz said. “We will not stop until every crypto victim is made whole.” 

Shortly before the class action was filed against Binance, the CFTC sued the exchange for allegedly breaking derivatives trading laws. In the suit, the CFTC claims bitcoin and ether are commodities, as opposed to securities. 

The firm’s FTX and Voyager suits are still being litigated.


Start your day with top crypto insights from David Canellis and Katherine Ross. Subscribe to the Empire newsletter.

Explore the growing intersection between crypto, macroeconomics, policy and finance with Ben Strack, Casey Wagner and Felix Jauvin. Subscribe to the On the Margin newsletter.

The Lightspeed newsletter is all things Solana, in your inbox, every day. Subscribe to daily Solana news from Jack Kubinec and Jeff Albus.

Tags

Upcoming Events

Salt Lake City, UT

MON - TUES, OCT. 7 - 8, 2024

Blockworks and Bankless in collaboration with buidlbox are excited to announce the second installment of the Permissionless Hackathon – taking place October 7-8 in Salt Lake City, Utah. We’ve partnered with buidlbox to bring together the brightest minds in crypto for […]

Salt Lake City, UT

WED - FRI, OCTOBER 9 - 11, 2024

Permissionless is a conference for founders, application developers, and users. Come meet the next generation of people building and using crypto.

recent research

Blinks Report Image.png

Research

Blinks enable the ability to vampire attack user monetization of existing networks by inserting onchain and financialized functionalities directly within the popular social feeds and digital experiences of today.

article-image

I was excited about being on the precipice of realigning societal incentives and solving many issues plaguing our modern financial world

article-image

Cypherpunk Holdings has rebranded to Sol Strategies in a pivot to a Solana-first investment approach

article-image

BitGo’s wrapped bitcoin (wBTC) has a new custodial challenger

article-image

Make no mistake: Tether makes a ton of money. But exactly how much depends a lot on the price of bitcoin.

article-image

A new report on stablecoin activity in emerging markets shows their immense popularity in Nigeria

article-image

Version 2.0 brings users closer to a “Coinbase experience”