Mocking the lawsuit or late April Fool’s joke? Dogecoin is up almost 40% after Elon Musk changes Twitter logo to the Doge meme?
Dogecoin skyrocketed by almost 40% in the past 48 hours after Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, changed his Twitter logo to the Doge meme. The sudden increase in Dogecoin’s price may be a response to a recent frivolous lawsuit filed against Musk by Dogecoin investors. The lawsuit accused him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, which they claim generated billions of dollars of profit at other Dogecoin investors’ expense.
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Musk’s lawyers called the lawsuit a “fanciful work of fiction” over Musk’s “innocuous and often silly tweets” about Dogecoin. The investors never explained how Musk intended to defraud anyone or what risks he concealed, and his statements such as “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, only Doge” were too vague to support a fraud claim. Musk’s lawyers argued that there is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.
The investors accused Musk of deliberately driving up Dogecoin’s price more than 36,000% over two years and then letting it crash. They claimed that Musk knew the currency lacked intrinsic value and that he generated billions of dollars of profit at their expense. Investors also pointed to Musk’s appearance on a Weekend Update segment of NBC’s Saturday Night Live where he called Dogecoin “a hustle.”
The damages figure in the lawsuit is triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market value in the 13 months before the lawsuit was filed. Dogecoin Foundation, a nonprofit, is also a defendant and seeking the lawsuit’s dismissal.
Despite the lawsuit, Dogecoin’s price has been on the rise in the past few days. On April 1, Musk changed his Twitter logo to the Doge meme, causing some confusion among users who thought it was an April Fool’s joke. However, as of April 4, the Doge meme still remains as his logo.
Musk also tweeted a joke image of Doge being pulled over by a cop and showing his driver’s license, which shows a picture of the Twitter logo. Doge responds by saying, “this is an old photo.” The Twitter community has been divided over the joke, with most non-partial Twitter users finding it hilarious. However, Musk’s political detractors have accused him of “fraud” and are trying to get him sacked and sued.
Dogecoin’s sudden increase in price may be a result of Musk’s tweets and actions on social media. He has been known to tweet about Dogecoin in the past, causing its price to surge. In February, he tweeted “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto” and “No highs, no lows, only Doge.” The tweets caused Dogecoin’s price to increase by 50% in just a few hours.
Musk’s influence on social media is undeniable, and his tweets have the power to move markets. However, his tweets have also landed him in legal trouble in the past. In 2018, he tweeted that he had secured funding to take Tesla private, which resulted in a lawsuit from investors who claimed that his tweets misled them. Musk won the case, but his tweets continue to be closely monitored by regulators and investors.
Dogecoin’s recent increase in price may be a result of Musk’s tweets and actions on social media. However, it remains to be seen whether this increase is sustainable in the long term. The lawsuit against Musk and Dogecoin investors’ claims of a pyramid scheme may also have a significant impact on Dogecoin’s price and reputation. Nonetheless, Musk’s influence on social media and ability to move markets cannot be denied, and it will be interesting to see how his tweets continue to affect the cryptocurrency market.