BitMEX market manipulation lawsuit dismissed over being ‘too lengthy’

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A California judge has dismissed a lawsuit brought against the embattled BitMEX digital currency exchange, stating that it was “too lengthy and copy pasted from a similar lawsuit.” The lawsuit accused BitMEX of market manipulation and fraud but has now been thrown out with no chance of refiling again.

BitMEX has been facing a number of legal actions against it and its executives, ranging from market manipulation to criminal conduct, the latter of which it settled for $100 million. The exchange can now count one less lawsuit after Judge William Orrick dismissed one filed by a group of traders. They had accused the exchange of fraudulent conduct and breaching the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organization Act (RICO) and Commodity Exchange Acts.

Judge Orrick of the Northern District of California, however, found the lawsuit to be too wordy.

“The size and prolix nature […] alone are grounds for dismissal. I have also searched for a plausible claim and cannot find one,” he stated in his ruling, as Law360 reports.

The traders had been joined by Bitcoin Manipulation Abatement LLC (BMA), a known litigant against digital currency companies. It has previously filed a lawsuit against Ripple for selling unregistered securities (six months before the SEC filed similar charges) and FTX exchange for price manipulation.

Ironically, this isn’t the first time that the plaintiffs have been brushed off by the judge for their lawsuit being too lengthy. Previously, they had filed 237 pages with 600 paragraphs which the judge found to be too wordy. This time, the complaint was even longer at 378 pages and over 1,000 paragraphs according to Law360.

According to Judge Orrick, the plaintiffs had attempted to piggyback on another motion that had been filed against BitMEX, allegedly copying vast amounts of that complaint.

“I will not consider those copied allegations, for which the Messieh court will determine plausibility. Plaintiffs’ other allegations are insufficient for the same reasons identified in my previous order,” the judge ruled.

The head of the legal team for the plaintiffs Pavel Pogodin refuted the judge’s ruling, telling the outlet, “Judge Orrick did not cite a single case to support his assertions regarding the copied material.”

With the case now being thrown out the second time, the plaintiffs can’t file it again.

While it has managed to shake off this lawsuit, BitMEX still faces many other legal actions. In addition, its executives are still facing charges by U.S. authorities for their failure to implement AML procedures and leaving their platform prone to criminal use.

Follow CoinGeek’s Crypto Crime Cartel series, which delves into the stream of groups—a from BitMEX to Binance, Bitcoin.com, Blockstream, ShapeShift, Coinbase, Ripple and Ethereum—who have co-opted the digital asset revolution and turned the industry into a minefield for naïve (and even experienced) players in the market.