Just when the war over Bitcoin Cash seemed to be over, United American Corp. has filed a lawsuit against a range of companies and individuals who backed the eventual winner in the battle: Bitcoin Cash ABC.

The lawsuit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of Florida, is seeking damages and injunctive relief against Bitmain, Bitcoin.com, Roger Ver, the Kraken Bitcoin Exchange and other individuals. The suit alleges a “well-planned scheme to take control of the Bitcoin Cash network for personal gain and which caused a global capitalization meltdown of the Bitcoin Cash network at the expense of others.”

Among numerous allegations, the company, better known as UnitedCorp, claims that the defendants “collectively engaged in unfair methods of competition and through a series of unconscionable, deceptive and unfair practices, manipulated the Bitcoin Cash network for their benefit and to the detriment of UnitedCorp and other Bitcoin Cash stakeholders.”

The battle of the control of Bitcoin Cash came to a head Nov. 14 with two groups — Bitcoin Cash ABC and Bitcoin Cash SV — battling for control of the cryptocurrency ahead of a scheduled “hard fork,” or split into two currencies. By Nov. 21, Bitcoin Cash had split in two, with both groups arguing that they were the rightful heirs to the Bitcoin Cash name.

Eventually, given strong market support, the Bitcoin Cash SV group backed down Nov. 27, with Bitcoin Cash ABC obtaining uncontested control of Bitcoin Cash.

UnitedCorp argues that the defendants colluded to effectively hijack the Bitcoin Cash network with the intent of centralizing the network “in violation of the accepted standards and protocols associated with bitcoin since its inception.”

“Accepted standards” of bitcoin is hardly a legal standard, but the lawsuit alleges market manipulation that could constitute an illegal act, similar to an investigation by the U.S. Department of Justice of the use of Tether to manipulate the price of bitcoin.

That said, no legal standard has been yet set when it comes to market manipulation of unregulated cryptocurrencies. That makes the lawsuit a test case for the jurisdiction of courts when it comes to cryptocurrency regulation and management.

Image: descryptive.com