US: First antitrust trial involving cryptocurrency starts next week

On Tuesday, January 28, O’Melveny will represent Bitcoin.com and one of its early investors, Roger Ver, at trial in the first antitrust case involving cryptocurrency in US history. Ver, one of the true pioneers of cryptocurrency, has been called the “Bitcoin Jesus” for his early and outspoken advocacy.

Plaintiffs in this case, digital telecommunications company United American Corporation, allege that Ver and other defendants orchestrated a two-step scheme to “hijack” the Bitcoin Cash network. In their words, “Bitcoin.com and its founder and owner, Ver, colluded with Jihan Wu and ‘Bitmain’ to reallocate Bitmain’s computing power to Bitcoin.com’s mining pools during the Bitcoin Cash network upgrade.”

In this matter, O’Melveny is joined by Florida law firm Bilzin Sumberg in a renewed effort to dismiss these claims in US District Court in the Southern District of Florida. The O’Melveny team includes Antitrust co-chair Ian Simmons, partner Katrina Robson, counsel Sergei Zaslavsky, counsel Zhao Liu, associate Brian Quinn, and associate Patrick Jones.