%20(3).png){kind=small}
![TFD [LOGO] (10).png](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/bea252_c1775b2fb69c4411abe5f0d27e15b130~mv2.png/v1/crop/x_150,y_143,w_1221,h_1193/fill/w_179,h_176,al_c,q_85,usm_0.66_1.00_0.01,enc_avif,quality_auto/TFD%20%5BLOGO%5D%20(10).png)
Investor Slaps $258-B Suit vs Elon Musk Over Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme
- By The Financial District
- Jun 18, 2022
- 2 min read
According to Jonathan Stempel of Reuters, Elon Musk was sued for $258 billion on Thursday (Friday, June 17, 2022, in Manila) by a Dogecoin investor who accused him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency.
Photo Insert: Johnson is suing for $86 billion in damages and also wants Musk and his companies to be barred from promoting Dogecoin.
Plaintiff Keith Johnson filed a complaint in federal court in Manhattan accusing Musk, electric vehicle firm Tesla Inc., and space tourism company SpaceX of racketeering for promoting Dogecoin and driving up its price, only to see it plummet.
"Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading," the complaint said. "Musk used his pedestal as World's Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement."
The complaint also includes quotes from Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and others who have questioned the value of cryptocurrency. Tesla, SpaceX, and Musk's lawyer did not respond immediately to requests for comment.
Johnson's lawyer did not immediately respond to requests for comment on what specific evidence his client has or expects to have proving Dogecoin is worthless and the defendants ran a pyramid scheme.
Johnson is suing for $86 billion in damages, which he claims represents the decline in Dogecoin's market value since May 2021, and he wants it tripled.
He also wants Musk and his companies barred from promoting Dogecoin and a judge to rule that trading Dogecoin is illegal under federal and New York law. According to the complaint, Dogecoin's selloff began around the time Musk hosted the NBC show "Saturday Night Live" and, playing a fictitious financial expert on a "Weekend Update" segment, called Dogecoin "a hustle."
Tesla announced in February 2021 that it had purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin and briefly accepted it as payment for vehicles. Dogecoin traded at about 5.8 cents on Thursday, down from its May 2021 peak of about 74 cents.
