Source: Cointelegraph Original: "{title}"
A U.S. judge has approved Binance's motion to transfer a case involving its alleged assistance in money laundering to the Southern District Court of Florida, citing that there are similar cases already being heard in Florida.
The case was filed in August 2024 in Washington and focuses on the same core issues as a lawsuit filed in Florida in June 2023, accusing Binance of allowing cybercriminals to use the platform for money laundering. U.S. District Judge Barbara Rothstein stated in an order on April 21.
"Although the two lawsuits use slightly different wording to describe the proposed class, they both cover the same group of individuals who, during the relevant period, had their cryptocurrency stolen and transferred to Binance.com accounts," Judge Rothstein said.
"Therefore, this court finds that the plaintiffs' class is sufficiently similar to apply the 'first-filed' rule."
The "first-filed" rule allows a court to refuse to rule on a matter when a lawsuit involving the same parties and issues has already been filed in another jurisdiction. Typically, the court that first accepts the case retains jurisdiction, according to legal resource LSD Law.
Plaintiffs claim the lawsuits differ in key areas
The attorneys representing the plaintiffs in the Washington case argued that it differs from the Florida lawsuit because it includes additional allegations not present in the Florida suit and names former CEO Changpeng Zhao (CZ) as a defendant.
They also argued that transferring the case could delay the progress of both lawsuits, thereby "harming the interests of all plaintiffs."
Judge Rothstein stated in her ruling that transferring the case would not obviously delay the resolution of either case and could promote efficiency by "avoiding duplicative litigation," which is one of the purposes of the "first-filed" rule.
"Allowing two parallel class actions to proceed simultaneously in different jurisdictions would be duplicative and inefficient," she said.
Three cryptocurrency investors filed a lawsuit against Binance and CZ in Washington in August 2024, accusing them of having their cryptocurrency stolen, with the funds being transferred to Binance for money laundering.
A year earlier, Michael Osterer filed a lawsuit in Florida in June 2023, accusing Binance of assisting in the conversion of stolen cryptocurrency. The Florida court referred the case to arbitration in July 2024.
Related: As the crypto market rebounds, U.S. Bitcoin ETFs see the largest inflow of funds since January.
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