Resolving Crypto Disputes through Arbitration: the Binance Case Before the Honk Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC)
Santaolalla Montoya, C. (2024) Resolving crypto disputes through arbitration: the Binance case before the Honk Kong International Arbitration Center (HKIAC). The Law. Mediación y arbitraje, 2024, no 18, p. 9.
30 Pages Posted: 14 Jun 2024
Date Written: February 15, 2024
Abstract
On April 19, 2021, with the crash that occurred in the crypto world, the Binance exchange stopped working for 4 hours. This caused that many of its clients, who were leveraged in their position, could not enter to improve their positions, so that after the technical failure of Binance, they entered and found their accounts empty. To claim for the damage caused by the platform's failure, they could only go to the Hong Kong International Arbitration Chamber (HKIAC), because this was established in the contract clauses of the platform itself. Going to the HKIAC represents having to make an individual outlay of $65,000 to initiate the procedure, which makes it very costly for users. This article analyzes the clauses in the Exchange contracting, arbitration as a method of dispute resolution, the procedural measure of the class action, and the particularities of Binance as a legal entity from the perspective of private international law.
Keywords: Binance, HKIAC, Hong Kong, cryptocurrencies, crypto, bitcoin, arbitration, class action
JEL Classification: K33, K21
Suggested Citation: Suggested Citation