U.S. judge dismisses Uniswap scam token class action with prejudice

A U.S. District Court judge has dismissed a proposed class action lawsuit against Uniswap Labs, CEO Hayden Adams, and venture capital backers, ruling they cannot be held liable for alleged “rug pull” tokens traded on the Uniswap protocol. Judge Katherine Polk Failla determined that the identities of the scam token issuers are unknown, leaving plaintiffs without an identifiable defendant. The court recognized the decentralized nature of the protocol and distinguished it from a centralized intermediary, stating that developers shouldn’t be held liable for misuse of the infrastructure by bad actors.

Irina Heaver, a crypto lawyer, noted the ruling signals courts are seriously considering the realities of decentralization, and Brian Nistler of Uniswap called it a “precedent-setting ruling for DeFi.” The plaintiffs had argued Uniswap facilitated the scam trades by providing a marketplace, but the court rejected this claim.

This decision builds on a previous dismissal of federal securities claims and effectively ends the case at the district court level. The ruling is expected to have implications for future cases involving decentralized protocols, potentially requiring prosecutors to prove intent and control rather than simply authorship of code, as seen in cases like Tornado Cash.

(Source：CoinDesk)