Elon Musk asks court to dismiss $258 billion Dogecoin-promotion lawsuit

Lawyers for Elon Musk and the companies he owns described the $258 billion claims from investor Dogecoin (DOGE) as ‘a whimsical fabrication’. The billionaire asked the court to dismiss the suit, CNBC reports.

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According to the lawyers, investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone. According to the defendants’ statement, the entrepreneur’s tweets were not fraudulent in nature:

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There is nothing illegal about posting words of support or funny pictures on Twitter.

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The defense also does not agree with the investors’ claims that Dogecoin should be classified as a security. A spokesman for the plaintiffs, Evan Spencer, said he had no doubt about the suit’s success.

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In June 2022, American Keith Johnson accused SpaceX, Tesla and Musk of promoting a ‘cryptocurrency pyramid’ Dogecoin. The plaintiff sought $258 billion in damages and compensation.

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According to Bloomberg, Johnson seeks to represent a class of people who lost money trading or investing in DOGE since April 2019. The plaintiff seeks to bar Musk and his companies from promoting Dogecoin, and to declare that trading this asset constitutes gambling.

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Earlier, the billionaire actively promoted the meme cryptocurrency. In April 2022, Musk proposed lowering the price of Twitter Blue and adding the ability to pay for a subscription in DOGE. In January, Tesla began selling Dogecoin merchandise.

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In February 2023, the price of the meme cryptocurrency rose to above $0.087 on a series of Musk’s tweets. The entrepreneur introduced his Shiba Inu dog named Floki as Twitter’s CEO and a new member of the company’s board of directors.