Andreas Antonopoulos To Appear As An Expert Witness in The Bitfinex BTC Manipulation Lawsuit

Bitcoin advocate Andreas Antonopoulos has joined the ongoing argument in the class-action suit against cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex and its affiliates over alleged market manipulation causing the 2017 Bitcoin bull run regarding who will lead the case.

According to the affidavit filed on Jan. 27, Antonopoulos vouched for the legal team of Liebowitz stating,

“Kyle Roche, of Roche Cyrulnik Freedman (“RCF”), has demonstrated proficiency in these areas, unlike most other lawyers in the industry.”

Previously, Antonopoulos also acted as an expert witness for a matter being litigated at Southern District of Florida concerning a dispute over the ownership of a large amount of bitcoin (Kleiman vs. Craig Wright). The affidavit reads,

“In the Kleiman matter, Mr. Roche has repeatedly demonstrated an understanding of the technical and functional properties of bitcoin, cryptocurrencies, blockchain, and their underlying cryptographic principles superior to many other attorneys.”

Important to have judges and juries understand crypto

Antonopoulos also took to Twitter to clarify that as an expert witness in two current cases,

I am an expert witness in two current cases. As an expert witness, I am a neutral "explainer" of how bitcoin works, for the judge or jury. I am not taking a position on the facts of either case, nor do I have knowledge of the facts. I have been careful NOT to develop an opinion.

— Andreas ☮ 🌈 ⚛ ⚖ 🌐 📡 📖 📹 🔑 🛩 (@aantonop) January 29, 2020

Antonopoulos concedes that he is good at explaining the things related to crypto and has had lots of practice and as such can do a good job even under stressful conditions. And this he says is the only motivation.

Class action seeking to BTC compensate investors

Bitfinex along with Tether and their parent company iFinex have been facing four separate class-action complaints, by Liebowitz, Young, Ebanks, and Faubus, alleging market manipulation. Earlier this week, the judge ordered to have all the cases consolidated.

The case according to Karen Lerner, lead attorney for Young said,

“This class action seeks to compensate investors in Bitcoin and Bitcoin futures for damages from paying an artificial price compared to what they should have paid if the price had not been manipulated by the Defendants.”