Waymaker Wins Motion To Dismiss First Crypto Antitrust Case

On April 1, 2021, Brian Klein and Don Pepperman won a motion to dismiss in the first crypto antitrust case in the United States. The two Waymaker partners represented the cryptocurrency exchange Kraken and its founder Jesse Powell in a Florida federal court where they secured the dismissal of an antitrust suit by cryptocurrency mining company United American Corp. (UAC), which alleged their clients and others schemed to hijack and manipulate the Bitcoin Cash network.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Chris McAliley of the Southern District of Florida agreed with Klein and Pepperman’s request to throw the case out in its entirety, ruling that the complaint “must state facts – not conclusions – that plausibly suggest a conspiracy.”

Klein was quoted in an April 1, 2021 Law360 article, “We appreciate that the court spent the time necessary to review carefully all the allegations and the parties’ arguments so that it could reach this just result.” Klein has been lauded by Chambers as one of the top financial technology lawyers in the United States.

The amended complaint, filed in March 2020 by UAC, alleged that bitcoin investor Roger Ver, Beijing-headquartered Bitmain Technologies, Kraken, Powell, and two Bitcoin Cash developers conspired to temporarily take over and effectively centralize the bitcoin market.