Elon Musk, SpaceX, and Tesla Inc. have been sued for $258 billion over allegations that they were involved in a racketeering plot to support meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
Keith Johnson, an American citizen who claims he was cheated of money by the Dogecoin Crypto Pyramid Scheme, is suing Elon Musk and his firms, alleging that they are engaged in an illegal racketeering scheme to raise the price of Dogecoin.
“Defendants falsely and deceptively claim that Dogecoin is a legitimate investment when it has no value at all,” Mr Johnson said in his complaint, filed on Thursday in a Manhattan federal court.
“Dogecoin is not a currency, stock, or security. It’s not backed by gold, other precious metals, or anything at all. You can’t eat it, grow it, or wear it. It doesn’t pay interest or dividend. It has no unique utility compared to other cryptocurrencies…It’s not secured by a government or private entity,” according to the court filing.
Johnson seeks to represent a group of people who have lost money trading Dogecoin since April of this year. He’s seeking $86 billion in damages, plus $172 billion in triple damages, as well as an injunction prohibiting Musk and his firms from promoting Dogecoin and a declaration that Dogecoin trade is gambling under US and New York law.
Musk, the world’s richest man, with a net worth of $202.9 billion according to Forbes, has yet to reply to the lawsuit. The case has yet to get a response from his franchise companies too.
Tesla began taking dogecoin for transactions in its online store earlier this year, according to Musk. In the near future, SpaceX is anticipated to follow suit. Dogecoin was trading at around 5 cents at the time of writing, down roughly 67 percent year to date. It reached a high of 74 cents last year before before losing those gains like the bulk of other meme cryptocurrencies.