Elon Musk Is Being Sued For $200 Billion As Dogecoin Lawsuit Expands The Tesla and SpaceX CEO faces even more claims that his cryptocurrency was used as a "pyramid scheme."

By Madeline Garfinkle

Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.

Bloomberg / Getty Images

Back in June, former dogecoin investor, Keith Johnson, filed a lawsuit against Elon Musk, claiming the Tesla and SpaceX CEO "falsely and deceptively" promoted the currency, and effectively "engaged in a crypto pyramid scheme by way of Dogecoin cryptocurrency."

At the time, Johnson asked for $86 billion in damages plus $172 billion for losses incurred trading Dogecoin since 2019.

Now, the lawsuit has expanded, Reuters reported, tacking on seven new investor plaintiffs and six new defendants — including Musk's tunnel construction business, Boring Co., and "not-for-profit" organization Dogecoin Foundation.

Related: 'Frightening And Dangerous Nightmare': Tesla Owner Sues in a Proposed Class Action Lawsuit

The amended suit, filed on Tuesday night, claims Musk, along with his companies Tesla, SpaceX, Boring Co., and others, raised the price of Dogecoin for two years by over 36,000%, before eventually letting it crash and profiting at the expense of dogecoin investors.

How Much Is Musk Being Sued For?

The plaintiffs are asking for $258 billion in damages, and argue that Musk and his companies marketed the currency as a viable investment when in reality it had no value at all.

At its peak, Dogecoin was trading for around 74 cents in May 2021. As of Wednesday, it was trading around 6 cents.

Related: What's Going On With Elon Musk and Twitter? Musk Hits Twitter With Another Complaint, Subpoenas Twitter Whistleblower

Madeline Garfinkle

News Writer

Madeline Garfinkle is a News Writer at Entrepreneur.com. She is a graduate from Syracuse University, and received an MFA from Columbia University. 

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