On Friday (August 30), Dogecoin (DOGE) rebounded in the short term and rose above $0.1. Elon Musk, known as the "Father of Dogecoin", and his Tesla won the dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors by hyping the cryptocurrency Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading, causing billions of dollars in losses.
Reuters reported that the decision to dismiss the lawsuit was made by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan on Thursday evening.
Investors have accused Musk of using Twitter posts, a 2021 appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live show and other publicity stunts to trade at investors’ expense through several Dogecoin wallets controlled by him or Tesla.
They also said Musk deliberately drove the price of Dogecoin up more than 36,000% in two years and then caused it to plummet, and that he and Tesla frequently traded based on Musk's public statements and activities regarding Dogecoin.
Investors said these included Musk selling Dogecoin after he replaced Twitter's (now renamed X) blue bird logo with the Dogecoin Shiba Inu logo in April 2023, causing the price of Dogecoin to rise 30%.
However, Judge Hellerstein said Musk's tweets that Dogecoin was Earth's future currency and could be used to buy Tesla cars or be sent to the moon by his company SpaceX were "idealistic and exaggerated, not true, and easily falsified."
That means no rational investor could rely on the tweets to bring a securities fraud lawsuit, he said, adding that it was "impossible to comprehend" investors' allegations of market manipulation and insider trading.
Hellerstein dismissed the lawsuit, meaning it cannot be refiled. The investors initially sought $258 billion and amended the complaint four times in two years.
After the good news came out, Dogecoin broke away from the short-selling trend and rebounded above $1 in the Asian market on Friday.
“This is a very good day for Dogecoin,” Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro said in an emailed statement.
In seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Musk's lawyers said there was nothing wrong with his "harmless and often silly tweets."
They also said there was no evidence that Musk had two wallets used to make the suspicious transactions, or that he or Tesla had ever sold Dogecoin.
During an appearance on Saturday Night Live, Musk, playing a fictional financial expert, called Dogecoin a "scam."
Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and renamed it X. According to Forbes magazine, he is worth $239.3 billion.
On Friday (August 30), Dogecoin (DOGE) rebounded in the short term and rose above $0.1. Elon Musk, known as the "Father of Dogecoin", and his Tesla won the dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors by hyping the cryptocurrency Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading, causing billions of dollars in losses.
Reuters reported that the decision to dismiss the lawsuit was made by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein in Manhattan on Thursday evening.
Investors have accused Musk of using Twitter posts, a 2021 appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live show and other publicity stunts to trade at investors’ expense through several Dogecoin wallets controlled by him or Tesla.
They also said Musk deliberately drove the price of Dogecoin up more than 36,000% in two years and then caused it to plummet, and that he and Tesla frequently traded based on Musk's public statements and activities regarding Dogecoin.
Investors said these included Musk selling Dogecoin after he replaced Twitter's (now renamed X) blue bird logo with the Dogecoin Shiba Inu logo in April 2023, causing the price of Dogecoin to rise 30%.
However, Judge Hellerstein said Musk's tweets that Dogecoin was Earth's future currency and could be used to buy Tesla cars or be sent to the moon by his company SpaceX were "idealistic and exaggerated, not true, and easily falsified."
That means no rational investor could rely on the tweets to bring a securities fraud lawsuit, he said, adding that it was "impossible to comprehend" investors' allegations of market manipulation and insider trading.
Hellerstein dismissed the lawsuit, meaning it cannot be refiled. The investors initially sought $258 billion and amended the complaint four times in two years.
After the good news came out, Dogecoin broke away from the short-selling trend and rebounded above $1 in the Asian market on Friday.
“This is a very good day for Dogecoin,” Musk’s lawyer Alex Spiro said in an emailed statement.
In seeking to dismiss the lawsuit, Musk's lawyers said there was nothing wrong with his "harmless and often silly tweets."
They also said there was no evidence that Musk had two wallets used to make the suspicious transactions, or that he or Tesla had ever sold Dogecoin.
During an appearance on Saturday Night Live, Musk, playing a fictional financial expert, called Dogecoin a "scam."
Musk bought Twitter in October 2022 and renamed it X. According to Forbes magazine, he is worth $239.3 billion.
