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An investor in Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that was originally created as a joke but whose value rose and fell when promoted by Elon Musk, filed a $258 billion lawsuit Thursday against the billionaire and his two companies, Tesla and SpaceX.
Keith Johnson, who claims to have lost money after investing in dogecoin, has described himself as an “American citizen who has been defrauded by what he called”Scheme Cryptocurrency pyramidDrogecoin“.
He accuses Musk, electric car company Tesla and space tourism company SpaceX of committing an illegal organized crime of inflating the price of Dogecoin, to promote Dogecoin and raise its price, and then bring it down. Musk is the CEO of both Tesla and SpaceX.
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The investor requests that his application in New York Court be classified as A Class action on behalf of those who have He suffered losses when investing in dogecoin since 2019.
Since Musk started promoting virtual currency, Investors lost it US$ 86 billion estimateda Johnson. Musk would like to compensate investors for that amount, in addition to paying double that amount in compensation: an additional $172 billion.
“The defendants knew as early as 2019 that Dogecoin was worthless, yet they promoted Dogecoin for profit,” the lawsuit says. Musk used his base as the richest man in the world to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin pyramid system for profit, show and fun.
Johnson appointed electric car maker Tesla From Musk in the lawsuit, because he accepts dogecoin as payment for some derivative products. SpaceX It was also included to name one of its satellites as dogecoin. The plaintiff compared Dogecoin to a pyramid scheme, where virtual currency has no intrinsic value and is not a product. Moreover, they are not backed by a tangible asset and the number of “coins” is unlimited.
The creators of Dogecoin, which was founded in 2013, say it was intended as a satirical response to two big internet phenomena: cryptocurrencies like bitcoin and the popular meme of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog.
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The price of Dogecoin has been trading in fractions of a cent for most of its existence. however, Starch Its value at the beginning of 2021rising to $0.73 in May of that yearAnd the Powered by Reddit Forumin an action similar to what happened with GameStop, and after funny messages about musk.
These types of actions are called “meme”. It happens when a group of company stock assets are boosted by users of forums like Reddit. For example, on this forum, a group called WallStreetBets has coordinated a series of maneuvers to increase video game store engagements. Jim Stop in the stock market.
Soon after, a Reddit user calling himself “Satoshi” created the SatoshiStreetBets forum, with the original goal of making a “GameStop Effect” but with the cryptocurrency market. One of the first posts on the forum said: “Let’s make DOGECOIN something. That’s it. Here is the post.” (“Let’s make DOGECOIN a real thing. That’s it. Here’s the post.”)
Keep in mind that dogecoins are memecoins or meme cryptocurrencies, which are digital currencies whose value is more related to the popularity of social networks than to their quality as software products. Dogecoin is one of the most popular meme currencies, but there is more.
The popularity of Dogecoins has led many people users to start shoppingThe s Currency value It started for heightAnd the It at one point became the ninth most valuable cryptocurrency in the world. however, This Thursday It was worth less than six cents.
In Johnson’s view, Musk contributed to the “price, market capitalization and volume of the Dogecoin increase” through his promotion.
Musk’s tweets included, the richest man in the world who has more than 98 million followers on Twitter, including a follower promising to do so SpaceX” will put a file Drliteral ogecoin on the literal moon.
Lawsuits are mounting from investors feeling deceived by promises of virtual currency in the US.
The complaint also adds comments from Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and others questioning the value of the cryptocurrency.
Neither Tesla, SpaceX nor Musk’s lawyer have yet responded to requests for comment. Nor has he written anything on his Twitter account about it.
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