Elon Musk Wins Dismissal of $258 Billion Dogecoin Manipulation Lawsuit

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., has won the dismissal of a high-profile $258 billion lawsuit that accused him and his company of manipulating the price of Dogecoin (DOGE), the popular cryptocurrency based on in memes

On Thursday, US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in favor of Musk and Tesla, dismissing claims made by a group of disgruntled investors.

The judges’ rules tweets were “puffers” and not actionable

The lawsuit, filed in June 2022 by a group of Dogecoin holders, alleged that Musk and his company used social media and public statements to artificially inflate the price of the token, only to let it fall later, causing them significant financial losses.

The plaintiffs claimed Musk’s tweets and public endorsements of the meme currency boosted its price by more than 36,000% over two years before it finally plummeted.

Judge Hellerstein dismissed the charges, ruling that the SpaceX CEO’s statements were “aspirational” and constituted “inflated” rather than actionable claims. The judge also determined that the statements were not “factual and susceptible to falsification” and that “no reasonable investor could rely on them” as a basis for making investment decisions.

Complainants had pointed to several of the 53-year-old’s tweets as evidence of material misrepresentations, including his statement that he would become the “official CEO of Dogecoin” and his claim that he could put a “literal Dogecoin” into a SpaceX rocket. and fly to the moon

Pump and dump allegations

Investors also accused the tech billionaire and his electric car company of engaging in a “pump and dump” scheme with the meme currency. However, the judge found that they did not provide a clear and plausible explanation of how the two had become involved in this situation.

“It is not possible to fathom the allegations that form the basis of plaintiffs’ conclusion of market manipulation,” Hellerstein wrote in his decision.

According to a March 31 Reuters report, Musk’s legal team had previously sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that his accusers had not shown how he intended to defraud anyone or what risks he had hidden.

They argued that his tweets, including statements like “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, just Doge,” were too vague to support claims of fraud.

“There is nothing illegal about tweeting words of support or funny pictures about a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to maintain a market cap of nearly $10 billion,” his lawyers argued.

They added that the court should stop the plaintiffs’ fantasy and dismiss the complaint.

SPECIAL OFFER (Sponsored) Binance Free $600 (Exclusive to CryptoPotato): Use this link to register a new account and receive an exclusive welcome offer of $600 to Binance (full details).

2024 LIMITED OFFER on BYDFi Exchange – Up to $2888 Welcome Reward, Use this link to register and open a 100 USDT-M position for free!