PLAY Network, an onchain gaming infrastructure platform, claimed it has won a “decisive triple victory” in Gibraltar’s courts, closing a six-month legal battle with Ready Makers Inc.
Ready Makers Inc. representatives David S. Bennahum, Scott Rupp, and Davidi Gilo had sued to stop the issuance of Ready Gibraltar’s PLAY’s tokens and related assets.
In April, the Supreme Court of Gibraltar overturned a worldwide freeze on 542 million $PLAY tokens, finding their claim had “no real prospect of success” and calling it “oppressive.” Later that month, the court ordered the claimants to pay approximately $550,000 in indemnity costs to Play Network for misleading the court, including an immediate interim payment of approximately $300,000.
In June 3rd´s written judgement, the Court of Appeal for Gibraltar upheld the findings, ruling that the February 4 freeze was a “miscarriage of justice” and that “the claimants have no real prospect of success” to challenge the freeze reversal.
Bennahum, in a statement, said, “Litigation between Ready Makers Inc. and Ms. Macedo in Gibraltar remains very much ongoing. While the Court of Appeal recently lifted the temporary freeze of the tokens and we were ordered to pay costs related to those preliminary hearings, these are procedural matters that do not determine the underlying dispute. The core claim—seeking a declaration that Ready Makers Inc. is the beneficial owner of Ready Maker (Gibraltar) Ltd.—is still before the court. We therefore disagree with any suggestion that Ms. Macedo has ‘prevailed’ on the substantive issues and remain confident in our position. As the proceedings are active, we will not comment further at this time.”
The judgement noted that the claimants’ “groundless and damaging interlocutory onslaught on the operation of Ready Gibraltar’s business must have raised serious doubts in the relevant business world about its soundness,” according to Play Network. Play Network said the court said that Bitkraft and the trio (Bennahum, Rupp, and Gilo) now “have a good deal to answer for.”
Ready US’ claim to Ready Gibraltar was “unsupported by so much as a single piece of paper.” The Court of Appeal ruled “the claimants had and have no arguable claim to a proprietary interest in, or entitlement to, any of the tokens forming part of Ready Gibraltar’s assets.”
The claimants allegedly withheld documents “adverse to their case”, hiding that Ready US was dissolved in 2024 and portraying it as a “thriving company,” Play Network said. And the “wrongly granted” February freeze inflicted “massive, and continuing, damage on the value of the Ready Gibraltar tokens,” resulting in “driving the business into the ground,” the court said.
The court noted that the injunctions the trio obtained were “destined to kill the golden goose.” For Macedo, the episode shows how seasoned, well-funded male investors tried to dilute the equity of a female founder, Play Network said.
Play Network’s successful legal defense was led by London-based attorney James Ramsden KC (Astraea Group), known for defending crypto startups. Ramsden was supported by Philippe Kuhn (39 Essex Chambers), Signature Litigation, and Bull Blockchain Law.
“This unanimous judgment of the Court of Appeal follows the emphatic judgment of Mr Justice Restano on 5th April 2025. The court has found that any challenge to that judgment has “no reasonable prospect of success” and has confirmed the discharge of the worldwide freezing order and trust preservation order over the $PLAY tokens and shares of Ready Gibraltar granted on February 4, 2025. Mr Bennahum, Bitkraft, Mr Gilo and his Gibraltar family trusts now all face a substantial claim for damages by Play (Ready Gibraltar) having undertaken to the court to pay damages in the event that it found that the freezing and trust preservation orders should not have been made. That is exactly what the court has found. Ready Gibraltar will now pursue that claim with the full support of its legal team,” said James Ramsden KC, Astraea Group, in a statement.
“This victory belongs to the PLAY community – it demonstrates the importance of justice and integrity in the crypto and gaming industries. We faced false accusations and destructive tactics designed to undermine and destroy our ecosystem and $PLAY token – but the courts upheld the truth, exposing those who attempted to ruin the $PLAY token through greed. The Courts have now stated three times that PLAY did nothing wrong and that bad-faith litigation has consequences. As a leader in Web3, I am committed to protecting our community from bad actors and ensuring we will continue to pioneer innovative, onchain games – and work towards recouping the damages from this trio,” said Christina Macedo, CEO of Play Network, in a statement.
The Supreme Court of Gibraltar will shortly hear PLAY’s application for Bitkraft and the trio to pay approximately $2.8 million in security for costs in addition to at least $30 million in damages.
