An investor in dogecoin has filed a $258 billion lawsuit on Thursday against billionaire Elon Musk and his companies Tesla and SpaceX.
The investor, Keith Johnson says that he lost money after investing in dogecoin. He described himself as an "American citizen who was defrauded" by what he called a "Dogecoin Crypto Pyramid Scheme."
He is asking for his motion, filed in a New York court, to be classified as a class action suit on behalf of those who have suffered losses by investing in dogecoin since 2019.
The value of Dogecoin increased and fell after Musk began promoting the virtual currency. Johnson estimates that investors have lost around $86 billion. He has also asked Musk to reimburse investors this sum, plus pay double that in damages -- an additional $172 billion.
Founded in 2013, dogecoin's creators say it was intended as an ironic response to two big internet phenomena: cryptocurrencies such as bitcoin, and a meme image of a Shiba Inu dog. The price of dogecoin traded at just fractions of a cent for most of its existence.
It however saw its value leap at the beginning of 2021, rising to $0.73 in May of that year. On Thursday, however, it was worth less than six cents.
Johnson said he believes Musk increased "the price, market cap and trading volume of Dogecoin" through his promotion of it.
He included tweets from Musk, including one promising that SpaceX would "put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon."
Johnson named Musk's Tesla electric carmaker in the suit since it accepts dogecoin as payment for certain derivative products. SpaceX was also included for having named one of its satellites after dogecoin.
Suits by investors who feel cheated by the promises of virtual currency are on the rise in the United Sates.
