How Is Dogecoin Affected by the Elon Musk Lawsuit?

This year, Elon Musk has found himself in some hot water. He’s been sued for $258 billion due to his involvement with Dogecoin. This is a case involving one of the world’s richest men, one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies, and a huge sum of money, so it’s no wonder that people are curious about what’s going on.

Read on to learn more about the lawsuit and what it could mean for Elon Musk and Dogecoin’s price.

The history of Elon Musk and Dogecoin

Dogecoin was first mentioned by Elon Musk in April 2019 when he tweeted, “Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.” Since then, Musk has been an active supporter of Dogecoin, tweeting about it multiple times and even accepting it as payment for merchandise from Tesla and SpaceX. In May 2021, Musk tweeted that SpaceX would be launching a satellite called “Doge-1” to the moon in 2022. 

Elon Musk even mentioned Dogecoin multiple times on the comedy sketch show Saturday Night Live, where his character said, “It’s a hustle.” In 2021, Musk stated that he’d been working with the Dogecoin dev team to improve the network since 2019. While Dogecoin initially started as a joke currency, there is no denying that it’s now one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and Musk’s endorsement certainly has helped fuel its rise. 

Elon Musk’s lawsuit explained

Elon Musk is being sued for racketeering over his involvement with the dog-themed cryptocurrency. The lawsuit, which was recently expanded to include seven new investor plaintiffs and six new defendants, accuses Musk of running a pyramid scheme to support Dogecoin. If the lawsuit is successful, Musk could be ordered to pay damages of $258 billion—triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market value since May 2021.

According to the complaint filed in Manhattan federal court, Elon Musk and others deliberately drove up Dogecoin’s price by over 36,000% for more than two years and allowed it to crash afterward. Furthermore, the complaint alleges that by doing this, Musk and the other defendants made more than twenty billion in profits at the expense of other DOGE investors while knowing that the cryptocurrency lacked any intrinsic value.

However, the crypto community has ridiculed the lawsuit, with many saying it is ridiculous. Even the Dogecoin creator Shibetoshi Nakamoto tweeted that the suit was “stupid as f**k.” Nevertheless, Musk said in an interview since the complainant filed the lawsuit in June 2022 that he would keep supporting Dogecoin. 

How has Dogecoin’s price been affected?

Since the lawsuit was filed against Elon Musk on June 16, 2022, Dogecoin’s price has remained relatively stable. Dogecoin’s price closed at $0.055 on June 16 and hovered around the $0.060 USD mark in September, meaning it has slightly increased by around 9% since the lawsuit.

Dogecoin’s price has declined by around 66% so far in 2022, but this is likely due to the crypto bear market we have seen this year rather than specific events related to Dogecoin, such as the lawsuit.

It’s unclear whether the lawsuit will affect Dogecoin’s price in the future. Some have speculated that Dogecoin’s price will rise if the lawsuit is unsuccessful or fall if successful, but there is no guarantee this will be the case. Therefore, it’s best not to base your decision on whether to buy Dogecoin in Canada or not on how the lawsuit ends.