In a proposed class action lawsuit, investors are accusing well-known business mogul Elon Musk of insider trading. They claim that the billionaire purposefully manipulated the price of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
In light of this, plaintiffs claim that Musk and Tesla “wrongfully profited to the tune of billions of dollars on the backs of millions of working Americans” by peddling the meme token in a case submitted in Manhattan federal court on Wednesday.
Additionally, the third amendment to the investors’ complaint since it was first filed in June of last year claims that Musk traded Dogecoin valued at around $124 million. He allegedly changed Twitter’s logo to a Shiba Inu dog in April after that. That led to a 30% increase in the token’s price.
Investors’ Plea For Amendment
According to reports, a number of Dogecoin investors have asked to modify a class action lawsuit filed against Elon Musk, who will soon step down as CEO of Twitter. The business tycoon was accused of manipulating the price of the meme token, which served as the basis for the aforementioned litigation.
The investors claim that Musk engaged in an “undisguised course of cryptocurrency market manipulation” to profit from trades of DOGE by using his social media following on Twitter as well as media appearances in a May 31 filing in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.
Further allegations in the complaint claim that Musk made money off the trading of DOGE to the detriment of other investors. This apparently resulted in activities such as switching Twitter’s logo to the Dogecoin logo, which caused the price of the token to increase.
The Previous Amendments
The investors’ initial complaint was filed in June 2022. This came after Musk’s initial interest in promoting DOGE on the social media platform but before his purchase of Twitter. As a result of his efforts, the initial complaint has been changed at least twice going forward.
The plaintiffs asked the court for permission to amend their complaint in light of the assertion that Musk was involved in insider trading of DOGE and to add a claim that the token qualified as a security under American law. Commission for Securities and Exchange.
The amended lawsuit states that: “This is a securities fraud class action arising from a deliberate course of carnival barking market manipulation and insider trading by the world’s richest man Elon Musk, who hijacked an emergent pop-culture phenomenon to cross-promote himself and his companies, and to pad his obscene fortune, preying on the earnest hopes of vulnerable Americans, including war veterans, blue-collar workers, and the elderly.”
Additionally, Musk was seen to have replaced the Twitter logo on April 3 with the Dogecoin one. A few days earlier, his legal team had asked for the dismissal of the second amended case. At the time, “funny pictures” and “tweeting words of support” did not constitute fraud, according to the Twitter CEO’s filing.