According to a report by The Block, a California court ruled that the cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase can delist the wrapped Bitcoin wBTC while rejecting a temporary restraining order request from Hong Kong custodian BiT Global, which is associated with Tron blockchain founder Justin Sun.
According to previous reports by Zombit, cryptocurrency custodian BitGo announced in August this year that it would transfer its WBTC business to a multi-jurisdictional joint venture established in cooperation with BiT Global, forming a strategic partnership between BitGo, the Tron ecosystem, and Justin Sun. This move raised concerns among some industry insiders that it could challenge the DeFi ecosystem.
Coinbase announced in November that it would delist wBTC on December 19, citing 'listing standards,' following the launch of 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 action would cause imminent and irreparable harm, and accused Coinbase of violating several 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 stated in an interview with The Block: 'They are trying to completely stop our actions, but the court ruled today that none of their requests met any criteria.'
In a court document submitted yesterday, Coinbase stated that BiT Global's advisor, Justin Sun, had faced 'multiple' allegations of 'financial misconduct.' A representative for Coinbase 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's the wrong decision.'
WBTC launched in 2019 is an ERC20 token backed 1:1 by Bitcoin, allowing traders to utilize their Bitcoin assets within the Ethereum ecosystem's decentralized applications, with a current market capitalization of approximately $13.5 billion. Similarly, cbBTC, launched by Coinbase, is also backed 1:1 by Bitcoin and has seen its market cap grow to over $2 billion since its launch in September this year.
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