Lawsuit accusing Musk and Tesla of Dogecoin fraud dismissed
A judge has dismissed a lawsuit accusing Elon Musk of profiting from public stunts that inflated Dogecoin’s price before its eventual crash, causing significant losses to investors.
Elon Musk and Tesla have won the dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors by promoting Dogecoin. US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein issued the decision in Manhattan, rejecting insider trading and manipulation claims.
Investors had alleged that Musk’s social media antics, including posts on X and an appearance on ‘Saturday Night Live,’ were designed to inflate Dogecoin’s value. They accused him of driving the cryptocurrency up by 36,000% before allowing it to crash, causing them billions in losses.
Among the claims was that Musk and Tesla timed their trades to coincide with Musk’s public statements, including a surge in Dogecoin’s price when he briefly replaced Twitter’s logo with Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu dog. The investors argued that this allowed Musk to profit at their expense.
Musk’s lawyers maintained that his tweets were light-hearted and there was no proof linking him or Tesla to suspicious trading or sales. The lawsuit, which originally sought $258 billion in damages, was dismissed after multiple failed attempts.
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