Dogecoin investors who filed a $258 billion lawsuit alleging that Elon Musk operated a pyramid scheme to promote the cryptocurrency may have their case dismissed, as Musk’s lawyers have requested a dismissal. The plaintiffs cited Musk’s 2021 Saturday Night Live appearance, where he called Dogecoin “a hustle,” leading to a sharp decline in its price. Musk’s lawyers said that his support for Dogecoin on social media was “too vague” to warrant a fraud claim, and they referred to his statements as “innocuous and often silly tweets.”
The lawyers claimed that tweeting words of support for a legitimate cryptocurrency was not unlawful. The investors accused Musk of driving up Dogecoin’s price and then letting it crash, alleging that he used his pedestal as the world’s richest man to manipulate the Dogecoin pyramid scheme. Musk made several efforts to reignite enthusiasm for Dogecoin, including working with its developers to improve its system efficiency.
