According to a report by The Block, a California court in the United States ruled that cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase can delist wrapped Bitcoin wBTC, while also dismissing a request for a temporary restraining order filed by Hong Kong custodian BiT Global, which is associated with Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun.
According to previous reports from Zombit, cryptocurrency custody company BitGo announced in August this year that it would transfer its WBTC business to a multi-jurisdictional joint venture established in collaboration with BiT Global, forming a strategic partnership between BitGo, the Tron ecosystem, and Justin Sun. This move raised concerns among some industry insiders, who believe it could challenge the DeFi ecosystem.
Coinbase announced in November that it would delist wBTC on December 19, citing 'listing standards.' This move came after the company launched its own wrapped Bitcoin version, cbBTC. Last week, BiT Global applied for a temporary restraining order, attempting to prevent Coinbase from delisting this tokenized Bitcoin product, arguing that such an action would cause imminent and irreparable harm, and accused Coinbase of violating multiple federal and state laws aimed at promoting fair competition.
However, U.S. District Judge Araceli Martínez-Olguín stated on Wednesday that there was no reason to prevent Coinbase from removing the asset.
A person familiar with the lawsuit told The Block in an interview: 'They are trying to completely block our actions, but the court ruled today that none of their claims met the requirements.'
In a court document submitted yesterday, Coinbase stated that BiT Global's advisor Justin Sun has faced allegations of 'financial misconduct' 'multiple times.' Coinbase representatives also stated: 'We are a private company, and we have the right to decide which products should be listed or delisted on our platform — even if it is the wrong decision.'
WBTC was launched in 2019 as an ERC20 token backed 1:1 by Bitcoin. This wrapped asset allows traders to use their Bitcoin assets in decentralized applications within the Ethereum ecosystem, and its current market value is approximately $13.5 billion. Coinbase's cbBTC, also backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, has seen its market value grow to over $2 billion since its launch in September this year.
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