Bitcoin default judgment benefits from bull market, worth more today than in March

Quick Take

  • The plaintiff sued Bitcoin Market, LLC, in late 2018, claiming he was owed 75 BTC in damages
  • Bitcoin Market, LLC, never answered or moved to dismiss, triggering a default judgment
  • While usually this would trigger a decision in the plaintiff’s favor, the Court ruled the  plaintiff wasn’t entitled to damages for lack of access to his bitcoin because that wasn’t foreseeable at the time of contracting

Disclaimer: These summaries are provided for educational purposes only by Nelson Rosario and Stephen Palley. They are not legal advice. These are our opinions only, aren’t authorized by any past, present or future client or employer. Also we might change our minds. We contain multitudes.

As always, Rosario summaries are “NMR” and Palley summaries are “SDP".

[related id=1] Smoak v. 1 Bitcoin Mkt., 2019 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 123336 (D.W.D.Ok., CIV-18–1096-PRW, 7/24/2019) [SDP]


The Block is pleased to bring you expert cryptocurrency legal analysis courtesy of Stephen Palley (@stephendpalley) and Nelson M. Rosario (@nelsonmrosario). They summarize three cryptocurrency-related cases on a weekly basis and have given The Block permission to republish their commentary and analysis in full. Part II of this week's analysis, Crypto Caselaw Minute, is above.


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