Reported by Cointelegraph: The suit alleges Chainalysis falsely labeled the YieldNodes project a scam.
Legal representatives from blockchain analytics firm Chainalysis are scheduled to appear at a New York Supreme Court hearing on Oct. 16 regarding a defamation suit brought against the firm in January of 2024.
According to documents posted on the legal analysis site Trellis, the judge presiding over the case will weigh in on a recently filed motion to dismiss from the Chainalysis legal team.
YieldNode
Chainalysis is being sued by Exceptional Media Ltd., the company behind the YieldNodes blockchain investment project. According to legal documents filed by Exceptional Media, Chainalysis erroneously labeled its YieldNodes project an âinvestment scam.â
Exceptional Media seeks at least $650 million in damages, citing harm to its reputation and client base. It also alleges malicious intent.
Per the Jan. 22, 2024, court filing:
âIn or around the third week of January 2023, Plaintiff received a phone call from someone at Chainalysis, informing Plaintiff that Chainalysis had categorized Yieldnodes as a scam. The Chainalysis representative informed Plaintiff that Yieldnodesâ categorization could be lifted, or changed to âhigh-riskâ, but such a possibility should be viewed as an âopportunityâ that may take a couple of months.âChainalysisâ responseIn the time since the initial filing, Chainalysisâ legal team has filed numerous motions to dismiss. According to Chainalysis, Exceptional Media and YieldNodes failed to establish that the YieldNodes project isnât a scam or to provide any refutation of Chainalysisâ allegations.
Per a court document filed by Chainalysisâ legal team, âthe complaint fails to allege falsity.â
The filing goes on to state that Chainalysisâ report identified YieldNodes as an investment scam, âone that typically promises users outsized investment returns, often based on an algorithmic, âcanât loseâ trading strategy.â It further claims that the complaintâs failure to define how Chainalysisâ analysis was incorrect âsuggests it is plausible that Yieldnodes is, in fact, an investment scam.â
Chainalysis has sought to dismiss the case on the grounds that âthe Complaintâs failure to explain why it is not an investment scam (let alone a scam of any type) is fatal to Plaintiffâs claim.â
It also sought to have the case dismissed on the grounds that the New York Supreme Court doesnât have jurisdiction over this type of civil, commercial disagreement.