Judge Dismisses Lawsuit over Voyager Digital

A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit filed by former Voyager Digital investors against billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban over the basketball team Dallas Mavericks’ partnership with the now-bankrupt cryptocurrency exchange.

In an order filed Tuesday in the US District Court for the Southern District of Florida, Judge Roy Altman granted a motion to dismiss the case over claims that the investors “fail[ed] to establish personal jurisdiction,” among other reasons. 

The class-action lawsuit, filed in August 2022 shortly after the crypto exchange filed for bankruptcy, alleged “false representations and other deceptive conduct” at the company, specifically citing the 2021 deal with the Mavericks, intended to be for five years. The plaintiffs sued Cuban, the Mavericks and others over “misrepresentations and omissions” about Voyager, which downplayed risks in crypto investments.

In granting the motion to dismiss, Altman said the plaintiffs failed to demonstrate that Cuban and the Mavericks “carr[ied] on a business or business venture in Florida,” despite information about the billionaire’s travel to the US state or his properties in Miami Beach. In addition, the judge said the lawsuit did not provide evidence that Florida residents were specifically targeted with claims about Voyager by the defendants.

“Invoking conspiracy jurisdiction here might make more sense if this suit were against Voyager,” said Altman. “But it’s not. Cuban and the Mavericks are our sole defendants. And the Plaintiffs don’t argue that Voyager is the relevant co-conspirator here.”

Cointelegraph reached out to the Moskowitz law firm, co-counsel to the plaintiffs, for comment on the dismissal, but had not received a response at the time of publication.

Related: Investors funnel $32B into US crypto ETFs despite year-end pullback

Market downturn in 2022 affected more than just Voyager

Voyager’s bankruptcy filing in August 2022 was potentially influenced by a significant crypto market downturn spurred by the collapse of the Terra ecosystem. Several companies filed for bankruptcy protection that year, including crypto exchange FTX and Celsius Network.