Elon Musk and Tesla have successfully defended themselves against a significant lawsuit that alleged they manipulated the price of Dogecoin, resulting in damages amounting to $258 billion. The case was dismissed on August 29 by US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in the Southern District of New York.
In his ruling, Judge Hellerstein noted that Musk’s tweets surrounding Dogecoin included statements that were deemed aspirational rather than factual. For instance, Musk had mentioned the possibility of becoming Dogecoin’s CEO and suggested launching a Dogecoin into space. The judge emphasized that such comments were not grounded in reality and would not provide reliable guidance to investors.
The lawsuit, filed in June 2022 by a group of dissatisfied Dogecoin investors, accused Musk of inflating the cryptocurrency’s value by over 36,000% within a two-year period before allowing it to plummet. The plaintiffs argued that Musk exploited his influential status as the world’s richest individual to orchestrate what they described as a manipulation of the “Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme.”
In response, Musk’s legal team sought the dismissal of the lawsuit, labeling the claims and the staggering damages sought as a product of exaggeration and fantasy. After the ruling, Dogecoin’s market performance remained relatively stable, inching up by 0.1% in the following 24 hours. Currently, Dogecoin is trading at approximately $0.10, reflecting a decline of about 20% over the preceding month, as per recent market data.
Overall, this ruling underscores the complexities involved in cryptocurrency-related legal battles and highlights the challenges that investors may face when interpreting public statements made by influential figures.
