[ad_1]
© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: A photograph of Elon Musk is displayed on a smartphone positioned on representations of cryptocurrency Dogecoin on this illustration taken June 16, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/
By Jonathan Stempel
NEW YORK (Reuters) – Elon Musk requested a U.S. decide on Friday to throw out a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing him of working a pyramid scheme to assist the cryptocurrency .
In a night submitting in Manhattan federal courtroom, legal professionals for Musk and his electrical automobile firm Tesla (NASDAQ:) Inc known as the lawsuit by Dogecoin traders a “fanciful work of fiction” over Musk’s “innocuous and infrequently foolish tweets” about Dogecoin.
The legal professionals stated the traders by no means defined how Musk meant to defraud anybody or what dangers he hid, and that his statements resembling “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, solely Doge” have been too obscure to assist a fraud declare.
“There may be nothing illegal about tweeting phrases of assist for, or humorous photos about, a professional cryptocurrency that continues to carry a market cap of almost $10 billion,” Musk’s legal professionals stated. “This courtroom ought to put a cease to plaintiffs’ fantasy and dismiss the criticism.”
In a footnote, the legal professionals additionally rejected the traders’ declare that Dogecoin certified as a safety.
The traders’ lawyer, Evan Spencer, stated in an e-mail: “We’re extra assured than ever that our case shall be profitable.”
Traders accused Musk, the world’s second-richest particular person in line with Forbes, of intentionally driving up Dogecoin’s value greater than 36,000% over two years after which letting it crash.
They stated this generated billions of {dollars} of revenue at different Dogecoin traders’ expense, whilst Musk knew the foreign money lacked intrinsic worth.
Traders additionally pointed to Musk’s look on a “Weekend Replace” phase of NBC’s “Saturday Night time Reside” the place, portraying a fictitious monetary professional, he known as Dogecoin “a hustle.”
The $258 billion damages determine is triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market worth within the 13 months earlier than the lawsuit was filed.
Dogecoin Basis, a nonprofit, can also be a defendant and looking for the lawsuit’s dismissal.
Musk’s posts on Twitter, which he owns, have prompted a number of lawsuits.
He gained a courtroom victory on Feb. 3 when a San Francisco jury discovered him not responsible for tweeting in August 2018 that he had organized financing to take Tesla personal.
The case is Johnson et al v. Musk et al, U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037.
[ad_2]
Source link
