Court drops $258b Dogecoin manipulation case against Elon Musk

A United States court dismissed a $258 billion class action lawsuit claiming that Elon Musk and his companies, SpaceX and Tesla, orchestrated a “crypto pyramid scheme.”

Almost two years after the filing, Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the US District  Court for the Southern District of New York has decided to drop the lawsuit that sought $258 billion in damages.

The suit alleged that Musk misused his position as the world’s richest man to inflate the price of Dogecoin over “36,000%”  and then let its price crash, leading to losses for investors. The plaintiffs argued that Musk’s actions could be justified as a “Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme,” where he promoted the cryptocurrency to profit from the volatility he allegedly created.

Moreover, the suit highlighted Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live in 2021, where he portrayed a financial expert in a skit and called Dogecoin (DOGE) “a hustle.” Moments later, the price of DOGE dropped over 25% after hitting an all-time high of $0.73 and has yet to reach those price levels again.

In an Aug. 29 decision, Judge Hellerstein said Musk’s statements about Dogecoin were “aspirational and puffery, not factual” and were “susceptible to being falsified.” He added that no “no reasonable investor could rely upon them” for making investment decisions.

The judge also found that the facts did not support the plaintiffs’ allegations of a “pump and dump” scheme, market manipulation, and insider trading, underlining that it was “not possible to understand the allegations that form the basis” of these claims.

Musk’s legal team has previously urged the court to dismiss the suit, arguing that the Tesla CEO’s support for dogecoin on social media alone was too imprecise to quantify as allegations of fraud.

Dogecoin’s price did not react to the dismissal at the time of publication, and the token was short 86.4% from its all-time high price.

Over the years, Musk has distanced himself from the cryptocurrency sector. His electric vehicle company, Tesla, which once embraced Bitcoin as a form of payment, reversed its decision shortly after Musk’s SNL appearance. Yet the company has reportedly held onto its Bitcoin (BTC) holdings, as reported in its earnings result for Q1 2024.