The Delaware Court of Chancery has dismissed the second lawsuit brought by cryptocurrency investors against DMA Labs Inc. and the ICHI Foundation after the first-filed case was dismissed by the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. Morris Kandinov represented the defendants in both cases.
The first action was Hash Asset Management Ltd. et al. v. DMA Labs, Inc. et al., C.A. No. 22-cv-01633-JLH (D. Del.). On March 28, 2025, Judge Hall granted defendants’ motion for judgment on the pleadings and gave plaintiffs 14 days to file an amended complaint. The plaintiffs failed to do so and the court entered an order closing the case. The second case was Hash Asset Management Ltd. v. DMA Labs Inc. et al., Case No. 2025-0374 (Del. Ch.). On February 9, 2026, Vice Chancellor David dismissed the plaintiff’s fiduciary claim because the complaint failed to allege anything other than an ordinary commercial transaction and thus did not show a “special relationship” sufficient to give rise to a fiduciary duty. The court also found that the plaintiff failed to plead a valid basis to “pierce the corporate veil” as to certain of the defendants. Because the only two bases for equity jurisdiction were insufficiently pled, the court dismissed the remaining claims for lack of subject matter jurisdiction. The court also denied plaintiff’s motion to amend the complaint as futile.
MoKa partner Andrew Robertson stated to Law360 that “Our clients are pleased the court reached the right result, and we hope this will bring an end to a years-long litigation that never should have been filed in the first place.”
