A New York federal judge has permanently dismissed a high-stakes lawsuit filed by a group of Dogecoin investors accusing Elon Musk and Tesla of manipulating the market to profit from the meme-based cryptocurrency. U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein ruled on Thursday that the investors’ claims were unfounded, labeling Musk’s statements about Dogecoin as mere “puffery” and “aspirational,” rather than factual assertions that could mislead reasonable investors.
The investors had accused Musk of orchestrating a “pump and dump” scheme through his enthusiastic promotion of Dogecoin on Twitter, where he referred to it as the “future currency of Earth” and hinted that Tesla vehicles might soon be purchasable with the digital asset. The plaintiffs argued that these statements, combined with Musk’s influence, amounted to market manipulation that inflated Dogecoin’s value, only for it to subsequently plummet.
However, Judge Hellerstein dismissed these allegations, stating that no reasonable investor would have relied on Musk’s tweets as factual guarantees. He also found the claims of insider trading and market manipulation to be inadequately supported by evidence.
