Considered the biggest scam in financial history, Tether and Bitfinex face market manipulation charges in amended class action lawsuit

Bitfinex and Tether are now included in an amended class action lawsuit, facing accusations of market manipulation.

Filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, the lawsuit claims Tether and Bitfinex violated antitrust laws and the Commodities Exchange Act (CEA) through monopolization and restraint of trade.

Tether and Bitfinex accused of false guarantees

Plaintiffs Matthew Script, Benjamin Leibowitz, Jason Leibowitz, Aaron Leibowitz, and Pinchas Goldshtein assert that Tether’s issuance of USDT, supposedly not fully backed by USD reserves, misrepresented market demand.

The lawsuit contends that Tether and Bitfinex orchestrated a scheme to fraudulently inflate cryptocurrency prices by introducing unbacked USDT, creating a false impression of market demand.

This alleged practice facilitated trading on credit and borrowed funds, driving up cryptocurrency prices.

Tether and Bitfinex litigation status changes

The original lawsuit, filed in 2019, has been amended to include twelve causes of action, up from the original eight, making it more comprehensive.

The lawsuit has faced several challenges, including the withdrawal of the crypto law firm Roche Freedman, following controversial footage of Bitcoin lawyer Kyle Roche confessing to questionable legal practices.

This removal seems necessary because questionable video footage of Bitcoin lawyer Kyle Roche became public.

Roche has also been the founder of the firm since the law firm first launched to the public two years ago.

In these films, Roche was shown confessing to engaging in the practice of persuasion, filing frivolous lawsuits to help his clients win cases.

This put his authenticity as a supposed defender of the law to the test.

Tether dismisses charges

Although a Tether spokesperson dismissed the allegations in the amended complaint as baseless. But the case has drawn attention from the cryptocurrency community and regulatory circles.