- Binance and a Twitter (NYSE:TWTR) user are disputing the ownership of the domain name ‘binance.ca.’
- Cryptofelon alleged that Binance was using its power to bully him for not accepting their offer of $6,500.
- While Binance disputes the case at a Canadian court, the domain name registrar received a court order to suspend Cryptofelon’s access to it.
Binance, the largest cryptocurrency exchange, and a Twitter user @cryptofelon are disputing over the ownership of the domain name binance.ca. Cryptofelon has cried out, alleging that Binance is using its power to bully him into relinquishing the domain name he acquired in 2017.
Cryptofelon detailed his allegations in a Twitter thread on July 15, 2022, where he said Binance’s executive director of global partnerships, Min Lin, contacted him via LinkedIn on November 16, 2021, concerning the Canadian domain name.
The Binance official asked him to name his price, and he responded, “I’d be willing to part with it for 30.0 BTC or 420.0 ETH.” The Binance executive considered the price “unreasonable” and offered $6,500 instead. However, both parties could not reach an agreement as the seller said he would not take anything below 25 bitcoin in exchange, which was worth over $1.8 million at the time.
Cryptofelon claimed Binance suddenly stalled on the offer, resorted to coercion via threats of legal action, and accused him of breaching the organization’s trademark rights. Binance also accused Cryptofelon of using the Binance name for excessive profit, a claim which Cryptofelon fervently denied.
Cryptofelon argued that he registered the contentious domain name long before Binance acquired the rights to its trademark. He also claimed to have bought the domain name for a project he planned to set up.
It is a common practice for people to register domain names hoping someone or a company will be willing to acquire them at good pay in the future. For example, a 2010 report by Techcrunch discloses how Facebook (NASDAQ:META) paid up to $8.5 million to acquire Fb.com from the previous owner.
Cryptofelon had, in April 2022, recounted how he bought a domain for $16 and sold it to a centralized exchange for nearly half a million dollars.
how i bought a crypto domain for $16,told a multi-billion dollar CEX to kick rocks,and negotiated my way from a $500 offer to selling it for half a million dollars:
pic.twitter.com/5LauO0vbiU
— cryptofelon | .eth (@cryptofelon) April 28, 2022
Binance currently disputes this case at a Canadian court, while the domain registrar of binance.ca received a court order to suspend Cryptofelon’s access to it.