Bitfinex Withdraws Lawsuit Against Wells Fargo

Justice-1
12 April 2017

Digital currency exchange Bitifnex has withdrawn its lawsuit against US banking giant Wells Fargo, a week after it was first filed.

Court records show that yesterday, lawyers for the plaintiffs – iFinex (the owner and operator of the exchange), its two British Virgin Islands-based subsidiaries and digital asset transfer firm Tether – filed a notice of voluntary dismissal in the US District Court for the Northern District of California.

The move comes after Bitfinex filed suit against Wells Fargo, accusing it of prohibiting four Taiwan-based banks – First Commercial Bank, Hwatai Commercial Bank, KGI Bank and Taishin International Bank – from completing outbound wire transfers on behalf of the exchange.

When reached for comment, Bitfinex representative Brandon Carps confirmed the dismissal and signaled that the exchange is seeking to look past the dispute.

He stated more information would be forthcoming.

Carps told CoinDesk:

“We voluntarily dismissed our case, accepting the court’s decision, and find that we’re best served focusing our efforts on existing and developing relationships. We’re preparing an announcement that should be out in the near term and will be delving into the matter in greater detail in a later post.”

As part of its initial filing, Bitfinex sought a temporary restraining order that would have sought to prevent Wells Fargo from blocking those transfers.

Despite initial concerns about the safety of user funds, the exchange has said that the freeze only applies to wire transfers. An initial hearing on Bitfinex’s request had been scheduled for 25th April.

A representative for Wells Fargo did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

The full court filing can be found below:

Notice of Voluntary Dismissal by CoinDesk on Scribd

Image via Shutterstock