An appeals court in the US has started a new legal fight against Binance. US and its company, CoinMarketCap, over claims that they manipulated the prices of HEX tokens. An earlier decision by the district court to throw out Ryan Cox’s class-action case was partly overturned by the Ninth Circuit Court of Appeals.
On August 12, 2024, though, a group of three judges from the Ninth Circuit said the district court’s view was wrong. It was decided by the appeals court that the district court had personal authority over Binance’s case. The United States is very important to both US and CoinMarketCap because they were both founded and have their main offices in the country.
In addition to letting Cox’s action go forward, this ruling could set a standard for how cases involving cryptocurrency exchanges, especially those involving claims of market manipulation, will be handled in the future.
Since Richard Heart started the HEX token in December 2019, it has gone through a lot of changes. It has dropped a lot since its all-time high of $0.51 in September 2021. It is now selling at $0.004. Lawsuits have also been filed against Heart by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), which says he cheated clients out of money and used it to buy fancy items like a 555-carat diamond, expensive watches, and high-end cars.
As the case goes on, the government is looking more closely at Binance.US and CoinMarketCap. This could have effects on the whole cryptocurrency business.