Celsius v. Chainalysis most charges dismissed, one incitement charge allowed to proceed
According to Cointelegraph, a U.S. federal judge dismissed most of the claims made by the Celsius litigation administrator against the blockchain analytics company Chainalysis, but allowed one to proceed.U.S. District Judge Margaret Garnett of the Southern District of New York ruled on Tuesday, rejecting Chainalysis's request to dismiss the incitement charge, determining that the complaint sufficiently alleges that Chainalysis was aware that a press release issued by Celsius in 2020 contained false statements and assisted in disseminating that information.The court simultaneously dismissed 12 other claims with prejudice, prohibiting the plaintiffs from amending in this case; another 3 consumer protection claims were dismissed without prejudice, requiring the plaintiffs to amend or notify the court by October 20.The lawsuit was initiated by the Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium (BRIC), which acts as the litigation administrator and claims manager for Celsius's bankruptcy estate, representing Celsius and some former clients in asserting rights. Chainalysis declined to comment to Cointelegraph.The core of the case revolves around a $3.3 billion "audit." In 2020, Celsius used Chainalysis's Reactor software to calculate its managed asset size and publicly announced the results as an audit.According to the complaint outlined by the court, a Celsius executive initially calculated approximately $1.18 billion in assets using Reactor, which later increased to about $3.3 billion due to adjustments in methodology.
