Investors are filing a class-action lawsuit against Binance’s American arm, Binance.US, for allegedly falsely advertising investments in the algorithmic stablecoin TerraUSD (UST) as “safe.”
Last month, algorithmic stablecoin UST lost its peg to the US dollar and collapsed along with its affiliated asset Terra (LUNA), wiping out $40 billion in crypto market capitalization.
The investors, who filed in the US District Court of Northern California, also claim Binance.US falsely advertised UST as “fiat-backed.”
Argue the investors,
“Binance.US plainly failed to comply with federal and state securities laws. Binance.US failed to disclose that UST is in fact a security, and that it is selling these securities, even though there is no registration statement in effect for them, and Binance.US itself has refused to register with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission either as a securities exchange or as a broker-dealer.
Binance.US’s failure to comply with the securities laws, and its false advertisements of UST, have led to disastrous consequences for Binance.US’s customers: in May 2022, in the span of just a few days, UST lost essentially all its value—a loss of approximately $18 billion. Investors who purchased UST on Binance.US were wiped out, learning quickly that, contrary to Binance.US’s advertisements, UST was not ‘safe,’ ‘stable,’ or ‘fiat-backed.’”
The investors want to recover “damages, consideration paid for UST, and trading fees, together with interest thereon, as well as attorneys’ fees and costs, to the fullest extent permitted by law.”
A Binance.US spokesperson tells The Block that the lawsuit’s “assertions are without merit.”
