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After a two-year legal battle involving claims of
fraud, a lawsuit accusing Elon Musk and Tesla of manipulating meme
cryptocurrency dogecoin (DOGE) is ending.
Investors who brought the case, alleging that Musk was
causing the cryptocurrency’s price swings through tweets and public stunts, have
now withdrawn their appeal, Reuters reported. This follows a court dismissal in
August. This decision left both parties without sanctions, or the huge payout investors initially sought.
Investors Withdraw Legal Appeal
The lawsuit, initiated by Dogecoin investors, accused Musk and his electric car company, Tesla, of fraud and insider trading and sought a whopping $258 billion in damages. Investors argued that Musk manipulated dogecoin’s
market value through social media posts, including his frequent tweets and his
appearance on NBC’s Saturday Night Live.
They claimed that Musk timed his trades to benefit
from his own public statements, causing significant losses for other investors.
However, after U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed the case on
August 29, investors decided to withdraw their appeal.
The judge had reportedly ruled that reasonable
investors could not base a securities fraud claim on Musk’s tweets, including
his infamous declaration that Dogecoin could become the future currency of
Earth. Following this, both sides agreed to drop their
respective motions for sanctions against the opposing legal teams.
I will keep supporting Dogecoin
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2022
In an unusual twist, the case ended with neither side
securing sanctions. Investors had accused Musk’s legal team of obstructing the
appeal process and demanding excessive legal fees.
No Sanctions
Meanwhile, Musk and Tesla sought sanctions against the
investors’ lawyer, arguing that the lawsuit was based on ever-changing legal
theories meant to extract a quick settlement. Both motions were withdrawn in a stipulation filed in
Manhattan federal court, which still requires Judge Hellerstein’s approval.
The lawsuit had undergone multiple revisions since it
was first filed, with investors amending their complaint four times in two
years. Ultimately, the court found that the claims did not hold enough legal
weight to move forward, leading to the dismissal.
In June, a group of investors brought a class action
accusing the Tesla boss of influencing the price of Dogecoin for his own
benefit. Specifically, they accused the billionaire of pumping the price of the
meme coin by over 36,000% over two years and letting it crash.
However, the billionaire refuted the claims, vowing to
continue supporting the token. In a specific instance, the world’s richest man
briefly replaced Twitter’s previous blue bird logo with Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu
logo for a few days.
This article was written by Jared Kirui at www.financemagnates.com.
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