U.K. Supreme Court Rejects $13B BSV Lawsuit, Upholding Crypto Exchange Delisting Rights

The U.K. Supreme Court has refused to hear an appeal in a long-running $13 billion lawsuit brought by Bitcoin Satoshi Vision (BSV) investors, delivering a decisive legal win for major cryptocurrency exchanges and reinforcing limits on exchange liability for token delistings.

In a short decision released on Dec. 8, the Supreme Court said the application by BSV Claims Limited did not raise an arguable point of law or an issue of general public importance. The ruling effectively upholds earlier judgments that significantly narrowed the scope of claims against exchanges such as Binance, Kraken, Shapeshift, and Bittylicious, which delisted BSV in 2019.

The lawsuit alleged that these exchanges coordinated to remove BSV from their platforms, breaching U.K. competition law and causing the token’s price to collapse. Claimants argued they suffered massive losses, including hypothetical future gains they might have earned had BSV remained listed. Courts at multiple levels rejected this argument, emphasizing that damages based on speculative future market performance are not legally recoverable.

Legal experts say the Supreme Court’s refusal sends a strong signal to the crypto industry. According to Dubai-based crypto lawyer Irina Heaver, the decision confirms that courts will not be used to revive disputed crypto projects or reverse reputational damage through litigation. She noted that repeated lawsuits cannot replace market trust, adoption, or credibility, especially in an industry driven by sentiment and risk perception.

Earlier this year, the U.K. Court of Appeal ruled that BSV holders who were aware, or should have been aware, of the delistings had a duty to mitigate losses by selling their tokens in an available market. The court dismissed claims for “foregone growth,” stating that such losses were speculative and unsupported by established damages law.

The Supreme Court’s stance further weakens one of the largest crypto-related lawsuits ever filed in the U.K. and provides reassurance to exchanges that delisting decisions, when made to protect users and manage risk, do not constitute market abuse. The ruling is widely viewed as a landmark moment clarifying that exchanges are not obligated to preserve liquidity or price discovery for assets the market no longer trusts.