Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur and CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, has asked a US judge to dismiss a $258 billion lawsuit related to Dogecoin. According to a report by Reuters, Elon Musk and his lawyers appeared in federal court in Manhattan to defend against allegations that he ran a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency.
The lawsuit, filed by Dogecoin investors in June 2022, accused Elon Musk of driving up the price of Dogecoin by over 36,000% in two years and then letting it collapse. The plaintiffs claimed that Musk used his status as the world’s richest person to manipulate the meme coin’s price.
However, Musk’s lawyers called the lawsuit a work of fiction and argued that his tweets about Dogecoin were “facetious” and “often absurd.” They also claimed that Musk’s comments were too vague to constitute a fraudulent statement.
“There is nothing illegal about tweeting support or fun memes about a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to maintain a market capitalization of nearly $10 billion,” said Musk’s lawyers.
Elon Musk has been a passionate supporter of Dogecoin, first mentioning it on his personal Twitter account in 2019. Despite the legal battles he has faced in recent years, including a SEC case over his tweets regarding Tesla’s privatization and a defamation case brought by a cave diver, Musk’s entrepreneurial ventures continue to make strides in their respective industries.
The outcome of this lawsuit remains to be seen, but it highlights the legal risks associated with cryptocurrencies and the potential consequences of statements made by influential figures like Elon Musk.
