Coinbase legal chief addresses $1B lawsuit tied to wBTC delisting

From cointelegraph by Zoltan Vardai

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Coinbase’s chief legal officer has responded to criticism of the exchange’s token listing and delisting practices after a $1 billion lawsuit accused the company of anticompetitive behavior regarding Wrapped Bitcoin.

Crypto exchange Coinbase is being sued for over $1 billion by BiT Global Digital, which is accusing the company of harming the crypto market through its decision to delist Wrapped Bitcoin WBTC$102,353.23 in November.

In a Dec. 13 complaint, BiT Global alleged that Coinbase decided to delist wBTC to promote its own competing Bitcoin-based token, Coinbase BTC (cbBTC). 

A day after the lawsuit, Coinbase’s chief legal officer, Paul Grewal, defended the exchange’s approach, emphasizing its commitment to high listing standards.

“When an asset no longer meets our listing standards, we will drop it. When another asset can meet or exceed market requirements without sacrificing those standards, we will list it,” Grewal wrote on X.

The lawsuit was filed on Nov. 19, four months after Coinbase first teased the development of the cbBTC token, which was seen as a significant positive development to bolster the adoption of Bitcoin-native decentralized finance (DeFi), or BTCFi.

Related: Trump admin unlikely to change Tornado Cash approach, Coinbase warns law firms: Law Decoded

Crypto industry backlash following wBTC delisting

Grewal’s post received backlash from crypto industry insiders, including from Tron founder Justin Sun, who challenged the company’s transparency, questioning the alignment between Grewal’s statement and earlier remarks by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong.