Dogecoin Investor Sues Elon Musk For $258 Billion Over Crypto Support
NEW YORK: An investor in Dogecoin, originally created as a hoax but whose value has gone up and down since being promoted by Elon Musk, filed a $258 billion lawsuit Thursday against the billionaire and his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
Keith Johnson, who says he lost money after investing in Dogecoin, described himself as a "conned American citizen" by what he called the "dogecoin crypto pyramid scheme."
He wants his filing in New York court to be classified as class action on behalf of those who have suffered losses investing in Dogecoin since 2019.
Since Musk started promoting virtual currencies, investors have lost about $86 billion, Johnson estimates. He wants Musk to return the money to investors and pay double the damage - an additional $172 billion.
Founded in 2013, the creators of Dogecoin claim that it was intended as a direct response to two major internet phenomena: cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and the Shiba Inu dog meme image.
The price of Dogecoin has been trading in fractions of cents for most of its existence.
But its value soared in early 2021, rising to $0.73 in May this year amid the buying frenzy surrounding the GameStop saga and after Musk's hilarious account of it.
On Thursday, however, it cost less than six cents.
Johnson said he believes Musk is "increasing the price, market cap and trading volume of Dogecoin" by promoting it.
He added tweets from Musk, the world's richest person with more than 98 million Twitter followers, including one promising that SpaceX would "launch a literal dogecoin on a literal moon."
In his lawsuit, Johnson refers to electric car maker Tesla Musk for accepting Dogecoin as payment for certain derivatives. SpaceX was also involved in naming one of its satellites Dogecoin.
Johnson likens Dogecoin to a pyramid scheme in that the virtual currency has no intrinsic value or product. In addition, it is not backed by tangible assets, and the number of "coins" is not limited.
The costume of investors who feel cheated by the promise of virtual currencies is on the rise in the United States.