From memes to courts. After a long time being seen as a joke, Dogecoin, a virtual currency leveraged by Elon Musk, is at the center of a legal discussion.
Now, Tesla’s president is being accused of insider trading, that is, the use of privileged information, to negotiate and value cryptocurrency from a collective action opened by investors. According to the indictment, these moves would have cost them billions of dollars in their investments. A compensation requested is around US$ 258 billion for the damages.
In the lawsuit, filed in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday, Musk allegedly exploited tweets, paid influencers, leveraged an appearance on Saturday Night Live and other “publicity stunts” to profitably trade his currency in to the detriment of investors through portfolios controlled by Musk and Tesla, stuffed with Dogecoins.
Among other actions, the lawsuit also cites a sale of $124M worth of Dogecoins last April, after Musk temporarily changed the Twitter logo for the dog Shiba Inu, Dogecoin’s brand, and which raised the currency’s value by 30% at the time. In short, Musk would have harmed investors to promote himself and highlight his companies.
Musk and Tesla’s defense, represented by attorney Alex Spiro, did not comment on the situation or respond to a request for comment from the international press.
