Elon Musk and Tesla have won the dismissal of a federal lawsuit that accused them of defrauding investors over Dogecoin hype.
Investors accused Musk of hyping up the cryptocurrency on a Saturday Night Live performance in 2021 and through various Twitter posts. The investors originally sued Musk and Tesla for $258 billion but amended their suit four times since the initial filing.
Musk’s love for Dogecoin as an altcoin has been well documented.
In April 2023, he even changed Twitter’s logo from the famous blue bird to the Shiba Inu, which is the Dogecoin logo.
In their request for dismissal, Musk’s lawyers argued that there was nothing wrong with “innocuous and often silly tweets.” They also stated there was no proof of allegations that Musk owned two crypto wallets and that neither Tesla nor Musk ever sold Dogecoin.
In his ruling, Manhatten US District Judge Alvin Hellerstein noted that no reasonable investor could rely on Musk’s tweets to pursue a securities fraud claim.
Judge Hellerstein dismissed the case with prejudice, meaning that the case could not be brought forward again.
Lawyers for the investors have not commented on the dismissal. While Musk’s lawyer, Alex Spiro, told Reuters, “It’s a very good day for Dogecoin.”
