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Florida Court Revives $80M Binance Lawsuit Over Stolen Bitcoin Claims

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A Florida appeals court docket has reinstated a lawsuit accusing Binance of failing to freeze and get better roughly $80 million price of stolen Bitcoin, reopening a case that had beforehand been dismissed over jurisdictional grounds.

According to Bloomberg Law, Florida’s Third District Court of Appeal dominated Wednesday that the decrease court docket erred when it concluded it lacked private jurisdiction over Binance Holdings Inc.

The choice permits the plaintiff to proceed with a state-level lawsuit alleging that Binance didn’t act shortly after the theft was reported.

Appeals Court Reverses Dismissal Saying Use of AWS Ties Binance to Florida

The case stems from a 2022 incident wherein the plaintiff, recognized as Michael Osterer, reported that about 1,000 Bitcoin was stolen from his pockets.

He claims the hackers transferred the funds to a Binance account, the place the property have been transformed and withdrawn earlier than the change intervened.

Osterer alleges that Binance was negligent, breached its contractual duties, and enabled the laundering of stolen property by failing to freeze the property promptly.

Osterer is in search of the total worth of the stolen Bitcoin, estimated at roughly $80 million, together with curiosity. In 2023, he additionally tried to increase the case into a category motion on behalf of different victims whose stolen property have been allegedly routed via Binance.

A trial court docket initially dismissed the lawsuit after figuring out that Binance, which operates offshore, didn’t have adequate connections to Florida to be sued within the state.

The appeals court docket overturned that discovering, ruling that Binance’s U.S.-facing associates and its reliance on U.S. infrastructure have been sufficient to ascertain jurisdiction.

The court docket particularly pointed to the change’s use of Amazon Web Services and its U.S. operational footprint as legitimate contacts with Florida.

The choice sends the case again to trial court docket, the place Osterer will once more be allowed to argue his claims underneath Florida state legislation.

The ruling provides to authorized stress on offshore crypto exchanges which have beforehand relied on jurisdictional defenses to dam U.S. lawsuits involving stolen property.

Binance should still search to attraction the ruling or try to shift the dispute into arbitration, a technique the corporate has pursued in different U.S. circumstances.

Even After Zhao’s Pardon, Binance Faces Fresh Legal Heat within the U.S.

The revived lawsuit comes as Binance continues to face sustained authorized scrutiny within the United States. In November, the change and its founder, Changpeng Zhao, were named in a federal lawsuit filed by the households of victims of the October 2023 Hamas assault.

The plaintiffs accused Binance of knowingly facilitating crypto transactions tied to the militant group and serving to transfer greater than $1 billion via accounts linked to terrorist organizations.

Binance has denied the allegations and stated it complies with worldwide sanctions legal guidelines.

Earlier this yr, Binance also sought to dismiss a separate class action introduced by U.S. traders in California, arguing that an arbitration clause in its consumer settlement required personal dispute decision.

That case is tied to broader securities legislation claims alleging the change promoted unregistered crypto tokens and misled traders.

Binance’s authorized disputes within the United States have already led to a number of the largest settlements in crypto historical past. In November 2023, the exchange agreed to pay $4.3 billion to resolve fees introduced by the DOJ over violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.

Also, CZ pleaded guilty to a associated prison offense and accepted a separate $150 million private settlement. Binance additionally paid $2.7 billion to settle a civil case with the Commodity Futures Trading Commission.

In May 2025, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission dropped its civil enforcement lawsuit in opposition to Binance and Zhao, bringing an finish to a authorized battle that had lasted greater than two years.

Months later, in October, President Donald Trump issued a pardon to Zhao, wiping away the prison conviction tied to the Justice Department case.

The put up Florida Court Revives $80M Binance Lawsuit Over Stolen Bitcoin Claims appeared first on Cryptonews.

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