NEW YORK, March 31 (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 Dogecoin.
In a night submitting in Manhattan federal courtroom, legal professionals for Musk and his electrical automotive firm Tesla Inc (TSLA.O) 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 mentioned the traders by no means defined how Musk meant to defraud anybody or what dangers he hid, and that his statements comparable to “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, solely Doge” had been too obscure to assist a fraud declare.
“There's nothing illegal about tweeting phrases of assist for, or humorous photos about, a respectable cryptocurrency that continues to carry a market cap of almost $10 billion,” Musk's legal professionals mentioned. “This courtroom ought to put a cease to plaintiffs' fantasy and dismiss the grievance.”
In a footnote, the legal professionals additionally rejected the traders' declare that Dogecoin certified as a safety.
The traders' lawyer, Evan Spencer, mentioned in an e mail: “We're extra assured than ever that our case might be profitable.”
Buyers accused Musk, the world's second-richest individual in line with Forbes, of intentionally driving up Dogecoin's worth greater than 36,000% over two years after which letting it crash.
They mentioned this generated billions of {dollars} of revenue at different Dogecoin traders' expense, whilst Musk knew the forex lacked intrinsic worth.
Buyers additionally pointed to Musk's look on a “Weekend Replace” phase of NBC's “Saturday Night time Dwell” the place, portraying a fictitious monetary knowledgeable, 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 be a defendant and searching 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 chargeable for tweeting in August 2018 that he had organized financing to take Tesla non-public.
The case is Johnson et al v. Musk et al, U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037.
Reporting by Jonathan Stempel in New York; Modifying by William Mallard
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