Elon Musk wins Dogecoin market manipulation case; Judge: "No one would take his tweets as investment advice"

In 2022, a group of investors accused Musk of manipulating the price of Dogecoin and filed a lawsuit. Recently, a judge permanently dismissed the case, stating that Musk's tweets were merely hype and should not be relied upon by rational investors for investment decisions.

Background: Musk Accused of Manipulating Dogecoin Price

In June 2022, a group of Dogecoin investors filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, his electric car company Tesla, and his aerospace manufacturing company SpaceX, alleging that he, as the world's richest person, manipulated the Dogecoin price to skyrocket over 36,000% in two years before allowing it to crash.

The lawsuit, led by Keith Johnson and other Dogecoin investors, initially accused Musk and his companies of fraud, extortion, and violation of gambling laws, seeking $258 billion in damages:

Musk falsely claimed that Dogecoin was a legitimate investment, when in reality, it had no intrinsic value and was not a currency, stock, or security.

Dogecoin Investors Sue Musk for "Pyramid Scheme," Seeking $258 Billion in Damages

In response, Musk, through his lawyer Alex Shapiro, twice requested the court to dismiss the lawsuit in April and August of last year, claiming that the plaintiff's lawyer, Evan Spencer, abused his rights and delayed the proceedings, causing a slow progression of the case:

The plaintiff's allegations and claims have consistently failed to support their position, as there is no actual connection between the wallets involved in selling Dogecoin and Musk himself or Tesla; the complaint also failed to prove whether Musk's statements regarding Dogecoin were false or misleading.

Shapiro also described the multiple allegations against Musk and the $258 billion in damages sought as "absurd and incomprehensible fiction."

Musk Faces Collective Lawsuit from Dogecoin Investors | Lawyer Seeks Dismissal, Details Musk's Doge Actions

Judge Rules: Musk's Words Not to Be Trusted

After three years of litigation, Judge Alvin Hellerstein of the Southern District of New York finally permanently dismissed the lawsuit yesterday, marking a preliminary victory for Musk.

Hellerstein noted that Musk's tweets about Dogecoin contained "idealized and exaggerated" content, clearly not based on facts:

The defendant's interpretation of multiple tweets was "substantially mistaken," and "no rational investor" would consider those tweets as trustworthy investment advice.

Musk's History of Doge Play

However, based on Musk's past behaviors, his various remarks have indeed caused significant fluctuations in Dogecoin, with him particularly targeting Dogecoin.

In September last year, Musk revealed in his personal biography "The Musk Chronicles" that he had been secretly funding the development of Dogecoin and even intended to create a payment system focused on the DOGE token.

Earlier this year, he expressed strong support for Dogecoin in a speech and hinted at the possibility of including DOGE as one of the payment methods for purchasing Tesla electric vehicles.

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