• Elon Musk faces a $258 billion lawsuit for allegedly manipulating the price of Dogecoin.
• His lawyers have argued that the lawsuit is baseless and should be dismissed.
• The plaintiff claims that Musk knowingly promoted Dogecoin despite knowing it had no value, leading to a pump-and-dump effect on the token.
Elon Musk Faces $258 Billion Lawsuit
Elon Musk, the self-acclaimed “Dogefather,” has been hit with a $258 billion lawsuit in 2022 alleging he manipulated the price of Dogecoin in a Ponzi-like manner resulting in investors losing money on their investments. Musk denies this and has filed for the court to dismiss the complaint.
Lawyers Argue Complaint Is Baseless
Musk’s lawyers have stated that the lawsuit is a ”fanciful work of fiction” over his innocent and often silly tweets about Dogecoin and have argued that nothing was illegal about tweeting words or funny pictures about a legit cryptocurrency with a market cap of nearly $ 50 billion. They also rejected to notion that Dogecoin is a security, as claimed in the lawsuit.
Background Of The Lawsuit
The $258 billion lawsuit was filed in June 2022 by Keith Johnson on behalf of a group of Dogecoin investors in a Manhattan federal court. He accused Musk of hyping up merits of Dogecoin and having caused pump-and-dump effect on token prices. Furthermore, it was alleged that Musk knew since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value but still promoted it for profit, exposure, and amusement. This was evidenced by his appearance on Saturday Night Live where he called Dogecoin “a hustle” while roleplaying as fictional financial expert.
Plaintiff Seeks Triple Compensatory Damages
The plaintiff sought triple compensatory damages which amount to an estimated decline in Dogecoins market value during period preceding filing date.
Conclusion
Musk has denied any wrongdoing and asked for dismissal from court via his lawyer’s filing statement arguing that statements like ”no highs, no lows, only doge” were insufficient to support fraud claims against him. The case will proceed before US Judge who will determine if there are grounds for dismissing or upholding case against Elon Musks manipulation allegations surrounding cryptocurrencies like doge coin