Tether, the company behind USDT, said it would defend itself against a “blackmail” lawsuit filed by bankrupt cryptocurrency lender Celsius.

Celsius filed a petition in the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the Southern District of New York on Friday demanding that Tether release a total of 57,428.64 Bitcoins (BTC) or award the “current value of all Bitcoins,” about $3.3 billion at today’s price.

“This lawsuit incredibly demands the return of approximately $2.4 billion worth of BTCs liquidated at June 2022 prices at Celsius’s direction and with Celsius’ approval,” Tether said in a statement on its website. Tether did not explain how the $2.4 billion figure was calculated.

The case involves a loan agreement between Celsius and Tether; This agreement allowed Celsius to borrow stablecoins to carry out certain critical functions.

The petition alleges that when the market crashed during the “ninety-day period” before Celsius filed for bankruptcy, Tether “preemptively and fraudulently” transferred Bitcoin to protect itself from impending bankruptcy.

“It is stated that Tether has requested and received new, additional collateral several times to improve its position during the impending bankruptcy process,” the petition states.

“This baseless lawsuit demands the return of Bitcoins sold to cover Celsius’ position,” Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino said in a post on X.

“There are many flaws in the petition and we are very confident in the solidity of our contract and actions. This case will be defended to the end. It is important to show an exemplary attitude on behalf of the entire industry, shameless greed for money will not work,” Ardoino said.

Celsius argued that in June 2022, Tether “settled its debt using Celsius’ Bitcoins at an average price of $20,656.88—significantly lower than Bitcoin’s closing price of $22,487.39 on June 13.”

“These priority and fraudulent Bitcoin transfers must be prevented and the Bitcoin or its value must be recovered for Celsius’ assets,” the petition stated. Additionally, $100 million in damages is sought for contract violations.

Tether explained that during the market crash, the agreement required “Celsius to provide additional collateral to avoid liquidating its BTCs” and “when Celsius chooses not to provide additional BTC, it requests Tether to liquidate its holdings of BTC collateral.”

Tether also stated that Tether Group’s consolidated equity capital was almost $12 billion as of June 30, and that “even if this baseless lawsuit were to succeed in any way, Tether token holders would not be affected.” Celsius’ bankruptcy was officially closed following the approval of a restructuring plan in November.