The Elon Musk Dogecoin lawsuit is over. A $258 billion proposed class action accusing Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX of running a Dogecoin “pyramid scheme” was dismissed with prejudice by a Manhattan federal judge on August 29, 2024, and the plaintiffs dropped their appeal on November 14, 2024, ending the case entirely.1Teslarati. Tesla, Elon Musk Win Dismissal of Dogecoin Lawsuit2Baker McKenzie Blockchain Blog. Dogecoin Buyers Drop the Appeal of Their Case Against Elon Musk
Who Sued and What They Claimed
Dogecoin investor Keith Johnson filed the complaint on June 16, 2022, in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, where it was assigned to Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein.3CourtListener. Johnson v. Musk, 1:22-cv-05037 The suit alleged Musk had “manipulated” Dogecoin’s price through his Twitter activity for his own “profit, exposure, and amusement,” and it asked the court to declare Dogecoin trading a form of gambling under federal and New York law.4Forbes. Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla Sued for $258 Billion in Alleged Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme
Additional plaintiffs joined through amended complaints, and the case caption eventually shifted to Gorog et al v. Musk et al. The proposed class would have covered everyone who lost money buying, selling, or trading Dogecoin from at least April 2019 through the filing date, though the court never certified a class.5ClassAction.org. Class Action Against Elon Musk Alleges Dogecoin Is a Crypto Pyramid Scheme
How the $258 Billion Number Was Built
The headline damages figure came from a simple calculation: the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market capitalization over the 13 months before the suit, multiplied by three.6Reuters. Elon Musk Seeks End to $258 Billion Dogecoin Lawsuit The complaint split that into $86 billion in base damages and $172 billion for trading losses reaching back to 2019.7Drive Tesla Canada. $258 Billion Dogecoin Lawsuit Against Elon Musk Expands
The Conduct at the Heart of the Case
Plaintiffs pointed to a series of Musk statements and stunts they said drove Dogecoin’s price up and down. In April 2021, Musk tweeted “The Dogefather SNL May 8,” and Dogecoin rose more than 100% in the week before his Saturday Night Live appearance.8Fast Company. Dogecoin Price Will Skyrocket Again With Elon Musk Hosting Saturday Night Live During the May 8, 2021 broadcast, he called Dogecoin a “hustle,” and the coin fell as much as 29.5% during the show, dropping to 49 cents before rebounding to 57 cents.9CNBC. Dogecoin Price Plummets as Elon Musk Hosts Saturday Night Live Dogecoin hit its all-time high market capitalization of $88.8 billion that same day.10GlobalData. Dogecoin’s Market Capitalization History
Musk also announced in December 2021 that Tesla would accept Dogecoin for merchandise on a “test basis,” and later said SpaceX would do the same, though SpaceX merchandise was still priced in dollars as of mid-2022.11Reuters. Musk Says Tesla Will Accept Dogecoin for Merchandise12Fortune. SpaceX to Join Tesla Accepting Dogecoin Soon, Musk Says
The Wallet Theory and Musk’s Denial
The most aggressive allegation, added in later amended complaints, was that Musk and Tesla controlled specific cryptocurrency wallets used to trade Dogecoin on the timing of his public statements. Plaintiffs identified one wallet in part because it had purchased exactly 28.061971 Dogecoin, a figure they said matched Musk’s date of birth, June 28, 1971.13New York Post. Elon Musk Denies Owning Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Wallets The complaint tied trades between April 3 and April 6, 2023 to Musk’s brief swap of the Twitter logo for the Dogecoin Shiba Inu image, which coincided with a 30% price jump.14Yahoo Finance. Elon Musk, Tesla Win Dismissal of Dogecoin Lawsuit One wallet allegedly held more than $25 billion in Dogecoin at its peak.
Musk’s lawyers denied the wallet claim. Sworn declarations from Jared Birchall, president of Musk’s family office, and Suk Patel, Tesla’s compliance director, stated that neither Musk nor Tesla owned the wallets and that Tesla had “not sold Dogecoin at any time.”15Reuters. Musk, Tesla Go on Attack Against Dogecoin Plaintiffs’ Lawyer The defense called the wallet theory a “pure fabrication.”13New York Post. Elon Musk Denies Owning Dogecoin Cryptocurrency Wallets
Why the Judge Threw the Case Out
Judge Hellerstein dismissed the case with prejudice on August 29, 2024, meaning the claims cannot be refiled. He ruled that Musk’s statements about Dogecoin, including calling it the “future currency of Earth” and suggesting SpaceX could fly it to the moon, were “aspirational and puffery, not factual and susceptible to being falsified.”1Teslarati. Tesla, Elon Musk Win Dismissal of Dogecoin Lawsuit No reasonable investor, he found, could rely on those posts to support a securities fraud claim. He added that the plaintiffs’ market manipulation and insider trading theories were “not possible to understand.”14Yahoo Finance. Elon Musk, Tesla Win Dismissal of Dogecoin Lawsuit
The defense had argued throughout that the lawsuit was an attempt to “extort a quick handout.”16Yahoo Finance. Lawsuit Claiming Elon Musk Rigged Dogecoin Dismissed
The Appeal Ended in a Walk-Away
Plaintiffs initially appealed the dismissal to the Second Circuit. On November 14, 2024, both sides filed a stipulation ending the fight. The plaintiffs withdrew their notice of appeal and agreed not to challenge the dismissal or seek any further post-judgment relief. In exchange, Musk and Tesla withdrew their motion for Rule 11 sanctions and attorneys’ fees against plaintiffs’ counsel.2Baker McKenzie Blockchain Blog. Dogecoin Buyers Drop the Appeal of Their Case Against Elon Musk The stipulation required Judge Hellerstein’s approval to take effect.17Fast Company. Elon Musk Lawsuit Over Dogecoin Dropped
The filing came within days of reports that Musk would co-lead the newly created Department of Government Efficiency, an initiative whose acronym, DOGE, overlaps with the cryptocurrency’s name.
A Different DOGE, Different Lawsuits
Search results for the Dogecoin case sometimes surface litigation involving the Department of Government Efficiency. Those are separate matters. In February 2025, a coalition of state attorneys general led by New York’s Letitia James sued the Trump administration over DOGE’s access to Treasury Department payment systems, alleging unauthorized access to sensitive personal data including Social Security numbers and bank account information.18New York Attorney General. Attorney General James and Attorneys General Release Joint Statement on Lawsuit A separate case, Public Citizen, Inc. v. Trump, brought claims under the Federal Advisory Committee Act and was consolidated with related cases in the District of Columbia.19Civil Rights Litigation Clearinghouse. Lentini v. Department of Government Efficiency Those disputes concern Musk’s role in a government body, not Dogecoin trading.