Class Action Lawsuit Pursued Against Bitmain, Alleging Unauthorized Crypto Mining

Bitmain is one of the predominant mining companies in the cryptocurrency space, so it would be fair to assume that they are following all of the right protocols in their efforts. However, it seems that they may not have been following as clearly as they have eluded. As of November 19th, there is now a class action lawsuit against the company for $5 million, claiming that they have participated in unauthorized mining firm.

The plaintiff, a resident of Los Angeles named Gor Gevorkyan, included both the China-based and U.S.-based Bitmain facilities in the case, which was filed in the Northern District of California. In the case, Gevorkyan says that the firm creates mining devices that mine cryptos with the resources of the customer, benefiting the company directly before the full setup has completed.

The filed complain specifically says,

“Until the complicated and time-consuming initialization procedures are completed, Bitmain’s ASIC Application-Specific Integrated Circuit devices are preconfigured to use its customers’ electricity to generate crypto currency for the benefit of Bitmain rather than its customers.” The document continues, saying that there are presently over 100 class members listed. The total amount of the suit “exceeds $5,000,000, exclusive of interest, fees, and costs.”

Gevorkyan’s story starts with his own purchase in January of several ASIC devices, which included the AntMiner S9. His goal was to mine bitcoin, but he had trouble with the configuration of the devices and their installation as well. The complaint explains, “During this time, the ASIC devices were pre-configured to mine and deliver crypto currency to Defendant. Also, during this time, the ASIC devices operated at full power mode, consuming a substantial amount of electricity at Plaintiffs’ expense.” IT goes on, showing the association between the personal crypto account of the plaintiff and the ASIC devices.

As such, the plaintiff wants to have “full restitution of all expenses incurred as a result of Bitmain’s unfair and deceptive practices.” This would also involve an order that would stop Bitmain from continuing to engage in “the acts of unfair competition alleged.” They would also be responsible for paying out interest, fees, and other costs.

Summarizing, the complaint added,

“Conveniently, Bitmain cashes in on every second it takes to get the ASIC configured with the customers’ specifications and lays the substantial costs of operating the ASIC devices at the feet of its customers.”

So far, Bitmain hasn’t responded to the requests from CoinDesk about the complaint. However, earlier this month, they were actually the plaintiff in a case that they filed against an anonymous thief. They allege that the accused party stole 617 bitcoins from a Binance account.

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