In a complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, US, Elon Musk, SpaceX, and Tesla have all been sued for $258 billion over an allegation that they promoted the use of the crypto token Dogecoin despite knowing that it “had no value”. Musk is the CEO of both SpaceX and Tesla.
According to Reuters, plaintiff Keith Johnson has accused the three parties of racketeering by driving up the price of Dogecoin via their statements, only to then let it tumble and fall. The complaints also aggregates comments from the likes of Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and others who question the underlying value of cryptocurrencies.
“Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading,” the complaint read. “Musk used his pedestal as the world’s richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin pyramid scheme for profit, exposure, and amusement.”
Dogecoin’s value has declined by $86 billion since May 2021, around the time Musk hosted popular comedy show Saturday Night Live and called Dogecoin a “hustle”. Johnson’s figure of $258 billion is triple that amount.
Additionally, the lawsuit also looks to block Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX from promoting Dogecoin again, and to declare trading Dogecoin as gambling under federal and New York law.
