Elon Musk faces a staggering $258 billion racketeering lawsuit as Dogecoin investors accuse him of running a pyramid scheme to boost the cryptocurrency.
In response, Musk’s legal team submitted a filing to a Manhattan federal court, dubbing the lawsuit a “fanciful work of fiction.” They argue that Musk’s “innocuous and often silly tweets” about Dogecoin, such as “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, only Doge,” were too vague to constitute fraud.
Musk’s lawyers further contend that the plaintiffs have failed to demonstrate how the Tesla CEO intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed. They emphasize that there is nothing unlawful about tweeting support or sharing amusing images about a legitimate cryptocurrency with a market cap of nearly $10 billion. As a result, they urge the court to dismiss the complaint. In a footnote, the lawyers also dismiss the investors’ assertion that Dogecoin should be classified as a security.
Evan Spencer, the attorney representing the investors, stated in an email:
“We are more confident than ever that our case will be successful.”
According to the plaintiffs, Musk, who ranks as the world’s second-richest person by Forbes, deliberately inflated Dogecoin’s price by more than 36,000% over two years before allowing it to plummet. The investors argue that Musk generated billions of dollars in profits at the expense of other Dogecoin investors, even though he knew the currency .
They also cite Musk’s appearance on NBC’s “Saturday Night Live,” during which he referred to Dogecoin as “a hustle” while portraying a fictional financial expert on a “Weekend Update” segment.
The $258 billion in damages sought by the investors is triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market value in the 13 months leading up to the lawsuit. The Dogecoin Foundation, a nonprofit, is also named as a defendant and is seeking the lawsuit’s dismissal.
This is not the first time Musk’s has sparked legal action. On February 3, a San Francisco jury ruled in his favor, finding him not liable for a tweet in August 2018 claiming he had secured financing to take Tesla private.
The case, Johnson et al v. Musk et al, is ongoing in the U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, under case number 22-05037. As both parties remain confident in their positions, the court’s decision will undoubtedly have significant implications for the future of cryptocurrency and the role of influential figures in shaping its trajectory.
Source: https://cryptodaily.co.uk/2023/04/elon-musk-files-request-to-dismiss-258b-doge-lawsuit