As one of the most talked-about innovations of the 21st century, cryptocurrency has become something of a global phenomenon over recent years, giving consumers across the globe the chance to own financial assets outside of the conventional regulations of Fiat currency. This came to a head throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, where consumers’ desire to bring economic power back into their own hands pushed popular tokens like Bitcoin and Ethereum to values of nearly $69,000 and $4,800 at their respective peaks.
Akin with all investment assets, purchasing cryptocurrency comes along with an assumed risk – just without any of the protections other assets’ standard regulations provide. Now, as geopolitical events and worldwide inflation have prompted an unstable international economy, cryptocurrency has taken a major crash, including industry-leading token Bitcoin dipping below a $20,000 valuation and $2 trillion in assets wiped off of the market.
Amongst this chaos has been the crash of purported stablecoins like UST, blockchain protocol platform Terra’s token that was allegedly tied directly to the value of the U.S. dollar and never supposed to lose value. Regardless of the platform’s promise, UST (alongside Terra’s native token, LUNA) became essentially worthless following its crash, putting many investors’ life savings at risk and begging the question of just how these crypto platforms will be held accountable for their actions outside of the realms of government regulation.
For Tibor Nagy, renowned trial lawyer and partner at New York City firm Dontzin Nagy LLP, the solution to pressing cryptocurrency disputes is clear: the courtroom. While many lawyers do their best to achieve settlements and plea deals ahead of proceeding with a trial, Nagy operates differently, championing for his clients in court to earn them justice and a maximum payout.
Nagy’s proven track record at trial has gained him the representation of significant high-profile clients across the country, including hedge funds like Third Point LLC, massive banks like J.P. Morgan, and cryptocurrency clients like ConsenSys, as well as widespread recognition of his legal acumen: Nagy has been named to Benchmark Litigation’s “Under 40 Hot List” and as an “Elite Boutique Trailblazer” by the National Law Journal.
Now, Nagy looks to take contentious crypto players like Binance to court and fight for fair compensation for clients that were led astray by Terra, alleging in the suit that Binance violated U.S. law by not registering with the S.E.C. when it was essentially operating as a securities exchange. Citing the site’s marketing rollout that purchasing Terra’s UST or LUNA was “safe” and “fiat-backed,” Nagy’s Binance suit has the potential to set precedent in the United States for crypto-related lawsuits.
“Thousands of retail investors lost huge portions of their life savings because centralized exchanges like Binance chose to profit from sales of unregistered securities like UST,” said Nagy. “These exchanges will have to answer for what they’ve done.”
Though only time will tell the results of Nagy’s suit against Binance, if his demonstrated ability at trial is indicative of anything, cryptocurrency and unregulated asset exchanges may finally see their reckoning in the court of law.
Visit Nagy’s website for more information on the New York-based trial attorney.