Elon Musk is facing a $258 billion lawsuit after crypto investors accused him of intentionally inflating the price of dogecoin.
The plaintiffs in the US case claim that Musk used his social media presence and an appearance on Saturday Night Live to boost the price of dogecoin "by more than 36,000% over two years and then let it crash."
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The filing alleges that Musk “used his position as the richest man in the world to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin pyramid scheme.”
The billionaire's lawyers described the lawsuit as an "imaginative work of fiction" based on "innocuous and frequent tweets" about the cryptocurrency.
“There is nothing illegal about tweeting words of support for something, or funny pictures about a legitimate cryptocurrency,” the lawyers said. “The court should stop this deposition and dismiss the complaint.”
Dogecoin is now worth $0.07, nearly 90% below its highest price in May 2021.
Regardless of the losses, dogecoin maintains a market cap of over $10 billion, making it into the list of the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies.
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The coin that took its inspiration from the meme has largely followed the broader market trends with a record high in 2021, which was followed by prolonged losses.
The $258 billion figure is three times the estimated decline in dogecoin's value in the 13 months following the price peak.
Musk had revealed that dogecoin is one of three cryptocurrencies he owns, along with bitcoin and Ethereum.
In a 2021 interview with Time magazine, Musk stated that dogecoin had the economic principles to become a form of regular currency.
"Although it was created as a dumb joke, dogecoin is better for transactions than bitcoin," he said. "It's slightly inflationary... but that's actually a good thing, as it encourages people to spend instead of hoarding.".
In June 2022, he said he would not sell his holdings of dogecoin regardless of price fluctuations.
"I will continue to support dogecoin," he wrote on Twitter before confirming to a follower that he would continue to buy it.
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source of information:independent.co.uk
