The Singapore International Commercial Court has ruled against cryptocurrency exchange Quoine for reversing the trade of 3,092 bitcoins (BTC) made in 2017 by crypto traders B2C2.
In a statement made just after the ruling was passed the court confirmed they had found Quoine not only liable for a “breach of contract and breach of trust” but also for reversing trades involving an “abnormal” exchange rate.
According the court’s documents there were 7 separate trades in which B2C2 had sold ether (ETH) at 10 BTC per token, 250 times higher than the market rate at that time. Once the trades had been concluded the takings were automatically credited to B2C2’s account by Quoine but having noticed the spike in the exchange rate, Quoine immediately cancelled all 7 trades and returned the balance to its pre-trade figure.
As a result in August 2017 B2C2 sued Quoine to recover the $12m that been taken from their accounts citing Quoine “had no contractual right unilaterally to cancel the trades once the orders had been effected.”
However, even though the ruling has gone in B2C2’s favour, they have expressed their disappointment in the fact the court will not force Quoine to return all 3,092 BTC to B2C2 as the market value of bitcoin has trebled since 2017. Instead a final settlement figure will be assessed at a future hearing somewhat incredibly leaving Mike Kayamori, CEO of Quoine, to consider the possibility of an appeal.
For us this is just a reminder how easy it is for disputes to arise during cryptocurrency trades. While there are undoubtedly legitimate fortunes to be made in crypto trading, there are also a growing number of companies and individuals getting involved who appear to be dead set on doing whatever they can to profit no one other than themselves.
Added to that the laws and regulations surrounding the trading of cryptocurrencies are still very much in their infancy leaving courts acting, more often than not, without clear precedent (in this case the Singaporeans were forced to base their deliberations on existing property law). This only underlines the value of having one of the few solicitors who genuinely have a success record in dealing with cryptocurrency on your side should you find yourself in a dispute.
If you find yourself in a dispute involving the trading of bitcoin or any other cryptocurrency and want to know what you can do next to recover the money you’ve lost, please call us today on 020 7792 5649 or email us at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
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