The lawsuit alleging that Elon Musk and his electric vehicle company Tesla manipulated the price of the meme coin Dogecoin is nearing its conclusion.
Investors who filed the class action lawsuit have withdrawn their appeal, Reuters reported on Nov. 15.
The lawsuit claimed that Musk and Tesla influenced the price of Dogecoin (DOGE) through tweets on X and public statements. One allegation centered on Musk’s appearance on NBC’s ‘Saturday Night Live’ in 2021, where investors argued that the SpaceX chief’s remarks impacted DOGE’s price, allowing him to profit from the surge.
Comments the complainants described as manipulative included Musk’s tweets about “Dogecoin’s CEO” and adding DOGE symbol to his bio. There were also comments on the potential for the meme coin to grow into a global standard for the financial system.
As alleged, DOGE price often rose sharply following these comments, including one on Tesla’s support for the meme coin as a payment option.
The lawsuit sought $258 billion from the billionaire.
In Aug., U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein dismissed the lawsuit – which the investors appealed.
However, with the withdrawal, this insider trading and fraud allegations case is now at its end. This comes as Musk’s lawyers withdrew the Tesla CEO’s motion against the investors’ legal representatives over demands for huge legal fees.
What remains is for judge Hellerstein to approve the withdrawal motions.
The investors’ decision to end the case notably comes just two days after U.S. president-elect Donald Trump nominated Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy to head the new Department of Government Efficiency. DOGE’s price surged significantly following the news.
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