A US federal judge has dismissed 15 claims brought against Chainalysis by the Celsius Network litigation administrator, Blockchain Recovery Investment Consortium. The court allowed only one claim to proceed, which alleges that Chainalysis aided and abetted Celsius insiders in breaching their fiduciary duties.
Judge Margaret Garnett ruled that the complaint sufficiently alleged Chainalysis knew a 2020 press release contained false statements and assisted in their dissemination. The company allegedly helped draft, edit, and approve the release, which falsely described their work as an audit.
In 2020, Celsius used Chainalysis Reactor software to calculate assets under management. While an executive initially calculated $1,18 billion in assets, the methodology was later adjusted to reach approximately $3,3 billion, a figure subsequently publicized as an audit.
The judge dismissed 12 claims with prejudice, barring further amendments. Three consumer-protection claims were dismissed without prejudice, with a deadline of Oct 20 for the plaintiffs to amend them. Celsius filed for bankruptcy in July 2022, freezing $4,7 billion in assets.
