Elon Musk sued for $258 billion by Dogecoin investor for running 'pyramid scheme'; all you need to know

A Dogecoin investor has sued Elon Musk for $258 billion, accusing him of allegedly supporting the cryptocurrency by running a pyramid scheme. Keith Johnson, who filed the complaint, accused Musk as well as his companies Tesla and SpaceX of “racketeering for touting Dogecoin and driving up its price, only to then let the price tumble,” as per Reuters. Johnson stated in his complaint that he was an “American citizen” who had lost his money in what he termed a “Dogecoin Crypto Pyramid Scheme.” “Musk used his pedestal as World’s Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement”, the motion filed by Johnson claimed. The complaint has also referred to comments from Bill Gates, Warren Buffett and other people who have expressed concerns over the value of cryptocurrency. Johnson has asked that the motion, which has been filed in a New York court, should be classified as a class action suit on behalf of people who have suffered by investing in dogecoin. According to an AFP report, Johnson has claimed that since Musk began promoting Dogecoin, investors have lost about $86 billion. He wants the Tesla CEO to repay this sum to the affected people and also pay double the amount in damage, meaning an additional $172 billion. He also wants to block Musk and his companies from promoting Dogecoin. The complainant also wants a judge to declare that trading in the meme-based cryptocurrency is gambling under New York and federal law. A lawyer representing Johnson declined to comment how his client would prove that Musk was involved in a pyramid scheme to promote the meme-coin. Dogecoin was started in 2013 as a “fun” and satirical alternative to Bitcoin by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. The cryptocurrency gained a lot of attention in 2021 when Elon Musk wrote a cryptic tweet about “Doge barking at the moon.”  The value of the meme-coin surged after the SpaceX CEO called himself “Dogefather” in the tweet. The world’s richest man has often talked about the meme-based cryptocurrency. In January, Tesla announced that it will accept payment for its merchandise in Dogecoin. According to data from CoinMarketCap, Dogecoin was trading at $ 0.05246 at 2:52 pm on 18 June, with a loss of 8 per cent in the last 24 hours. Read all the Latest News , Trending News ,  Cricket News , Bollywood News , India News and Entertainment News here. Follow us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.