Bitcoin Suisse AG has nothing to do with the Tezos Foundation, and it wants to make sure everyone knows it. A motion has been filed by the cryptocurrency brokerage firm in an effort to be removed from a lawsuit against Tezos, indicating that it was in no way involved with the initial coin offering (ICO) launched by the startup in 2017.
Tezos has been hit with a barrage of class-action lawsuits surrounding its ICO which, according to the court filings, violated U.S. securities laws and fraudulently misrepresented the company. There have been at least four to date, all questioning the $232 million that was raised through the crowdfunding activity. The lawsuits have pointed fingers at a number of individuals, including the coin’s founders, Arthur and Kathleen Breitman, Johann Gevers, Guido Schmitz-Krummacher and Diego Ponz. The Tezos Foundation and Dynamic Ledger Solutions have also been targeted by the suits.
Bitcoin Suisse and one of its founders, Niklas Nikolajsen, were also listed in the suit, which was filed by Bruce MacDonald. In its filing to be removed from the suit, a copy of which was obtained by CoinDesk, the company stated, “Bitcoin Suisse submits that it is not properly named as a defendant in the Tezos litigation because of its lack of contacts with both California and the United States sufficient to establish personal jurisdiction and because the alleged, limited currency conversion services it provided, solely in Switzerland, prior to the alleged Tezos ICO, and its alleged post-ICO conduct, cannot establish liability under Sections 5 and 12(a)(1) of the Securities Act.”
Bitcoin Suisse also argued that the plaintiff had not properly connected the two organizations when submitting the lawsuit. As such, the court would not have jurisdiction over Bitcoin Suisse and it should not be involved in the case.
The motion goes further, stating that MacDonald did not adhere to securities grievance regulations by not specifying the accusations against Bitcoin Suisse. “To assert a claim under Section 12(a)(1) of the Securities Act, a plaintiff must allege that defendant offered or sold a security in violation of 15 U.S.C. § 77e to the plaintiff,” according to the filing. Bitcoin Suisse has argued that it did not offer to sell or sell any securities. The motion for dismissal won’t be heard until July 19 at the earliest.
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