Elon Musk Wins Dismissal of Billion-Dollar Dogecoin Lawsuit, Lawyer Vows to Appeal

Alas for the plaintiffs, their claim fell flat after a federal judge in New York tossed the case on Thursday.

A federal judge in New York has dismissed a billion-dollar lawsuit accusing Elon Musk of rigging Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading.

The class-action lawsuit, filed in 2021, alleged that Musk and his companies, Tesla and SpaceX, drove up the price of Dogecoin by making false and misleading statements about the cryptocurrency. The plaintiffs, who included people who lost money investing in Dogecoin, claimed that Musk’s statements violated federal securities laws.

But in a two-page ruling on Thursday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein said that Musk's statements about Dogecoin were "no more than puffery," and that "no reasonable investor could rely upon them" to make investment decisions.

Hellerstein cited a legal concept that dates back more than a century, in which judges have dismissed advertising claims as "puffery" if they are intended to drum up hype and not serious promises.

The judge also noted that the plaintiffs had failed to show how Musk and his companies benefited from the alleged Dogecoin scheme.

"The complaint is devoid of any specific factual allegations showing that Musk or the other defendants touted Dogecoin, drove up its price, and then quickly sold their holdings at a profit," Hellerstein wrote.

The ruling is a major victory for Musk, who has been dogged by the Dogecoin lawsuit for more than a year. The judge's decision also prevents the plaintiffs from filing an amended complaint, making it unlikely that the case will proceed further.

Dogecoin fans celebrated the news on X, where they posted memes and thanked the judge for dismissing the "baseless" lawsuit.

"Elon Musk just won the dismissal of a long-running, billion-dollar lawsuit accusing him of rigging Dogecoin and engaging in insider trading," one X user wrote.

"The judge also threw the case out with prejudice, meaning the plaintiffs don't get another chance to amend the lawsuit in hopes of making it stick. Johnson’s lawyer, however, has vowed to appeal the ruling—though that may be a long shot."