Susquehanna International Group and Citadel Securities said they would drop a lawsuit alleging they lost tens of millions of dollars to insider traders as the firms finalize settlements with a number of individual defendants. The market-making firms disclosed their plans in a Monday night letter to US District Judge Arun Subramanian in Manhattan, who is overseeing their case. Susquehanna and Citadel Securities said they would voluntarily dismiss claims, reserving the right to re-file them in the future against defendants who don’t settle.

Jeff Yass’ firm sued 100 unidentified “John Doe” traders in late June, seeking to recover more than $70 million it claimed it lost on option bets placed ahead of a May 22 Chinese government announcement targeting cross-border brokerages. Susquehanna claimed the Does collectively purchased $12 million in options that yielded a profit of more than $100 million. Citadel Securities joined the case as a plaintiff shortly after, saying it also lost tens of millions of dollars and estimating the alleged insider traders could have made $137 million in total.

At Susquehanna’s request, Subramanian in June ordered the freezing of the alleged insider traders’ accounts at Interactive Brokers Group Inc., as well as the platforms of Futu Holdings Ltd. and Up Fintech Holding Ltd. None of the brokerages were named as defendants in the suit. Several individuals came forward and reached deals with Susquehanna and Citadel Securities to have their accounts unfrozen, and some settled the claims entirely.

But the judge dealt a blow to the suit two weeks ago when he refused to maintain a freeze on the accounts. Subramanian expressed doubt about Susquehanna and Citadel Securities’ claim that insider trading was the only possible explanation for the options bets. “This is modern trading — where algorithms, AI agents, and career traders are all jockeying, minute by minute, for the newest hot trade, using analyst information, market trends, news reports, scuttlebutt from online forums, and other tea leaves to make split-second decisions,” Subramanian wrote. “True, insider trading could be one explanation, but there needs to be more to support locking up millions of dollars in funds for the duration of a lawsuit.”