Musk asks court to dismiss $258B DOGE racketeering lawsuit Musk asks court to dismiss $258B DOGE racketeering lawsuit
The lawyers argued that the lawsuit is based on "innocuous and often silly tweets" made by Musk over the years and thus holds no merit in court.
1 min read
Updated: Jul. 18, 2023 at 12:47 pm UTC
NASA/Kim Shiflett.
Elon Musk’s lawyers have filed a motion to dismiss the $258 billion racketeering lawsuit related to his tweets and mentions of Dogecoin (DOGE).
The lawyers argued that the lawsuit is based on “innocuous and often silly tweets” made by Musk over the years and thus holds no merit in court. Musk’s lawyers added that the plaintiffs have not explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed through the tweets.
The lawyers stated:
“There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.”
They also rejected the plaintiffs’ claim that DOGE is a security in the filing.
The judge has yet to make a decision on the matter.
Class action racketeering lawsuit
Plaintiff Keith Johnson filed the class action racketeering lawsuit against Musk and his companies on June 16, 2022.
The lawsuit accused Musk of promoting a pyramid scheme and intentionally driving up the price of DOGE before it crashed, despite knowing that it had no intrinsic value. The investors claim that Musk and the Dogecoin Foundation profited from this scheme to the tune of billions.
According to the lawsuit, Musk “is and has been fully aware” that his tweets would have an impact on Dogecoin’s price, market cap and trading volume. It further states that every such endorsement has caused millions of people to invest their money in the meme coin.
The lawsuit also claims that Dogecoin is a security and a pyramid scheme. However, it uses statements made by prominent figures like Charlie Munger and regulators like the Reserve Bank of India to support its assertions.
The plaintiffs are seeking compensation of around $258 billion. The case remains pending in the Southern District Court of New York.
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Author 
Assad Jafri
AJ, a passionate journalist since Yemen's 2011 Arab Spring, has honed his skills worldwide for over a decade. Specializing in financial journalism, he now focuses on crypto reporting.
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In this article
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created in December 2013 as a joke by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer.
South African-born Elon Musk has founded several companies, including X.com (which later became PayPal), SpaceX and Tesla Motors.