Court throws out dogecoin manipulation lawsuits against elon musk and tesla

Elon Musk and his electric car company Tesla have successfully dismissed a lawsuit accusing them of manipulating Dogecoin, leading to significant financial losses for investors. U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan made the ruling on August 29, as noted in a court document.

Investors had filed a lawsuit against Musk and Tesla in June 2022, accusing Musk of manipulating the Dogecoin price by leveraging his influence through Twitter posts, appearances on “Saturday Night Live,” and other promotional stunts.

Allegedly, he sold Dogecoin at times when his actions, such as changing the Twitter logo to the Dogecoin mascot Shiba Inu, were intended to boost Dogecoin’s value. This strategy purportedly allowed him to profit from insider trading.

Furthermore, the lawsuit claims that Musk deliberately manipulated the market through public endorsements and statements about Dogecoin, misleading investors. It described these actions as “hype” not based on facts.

Elon Musk called the Dogecoin lawsuit a “work of fantasy fiction”

As a result, the plaintiffs sought $258 billion in damages, citing an alleged loss in Dogecoin’s value due to Musk’s influence.

However, on March 31, 2023, Musk moved to dismiss the lawsuit. In his defense, Musk’s legal team called the claims and the $258 billion damages demand a “work of fantasy fiction.” They therefore urged the court to dismiss the case.

Judge rules that Musk’s Dogecoin tweets were “exaggerated,” dismisses fraud allegations

The judge noted that the plaintiffs had misinterpreted several of Musk’s tweets about Dogecoin. For example, they had misconstrued his claims about becoming the official CEO of Dogecoin and his plan to send a physical Dogecoin to the moon with a SpaceX vehicle.

Hellerstein added that Musk’s tweets were “wishful thinking and puffery, not factual and susceptible to falsification.”

The judge further ruled that no reasonable investor could base a securities fraud claim on Musk’s tweets. In his view, it was “not possible to understand” how these tweets supported the plaintiffs’ claims of market manipulation and insider trading. Consequently, the court dismissed the allegations.

Dogecoin has added 5% in the last 24 hours, trading at $0.10.