cryptoslate.com
New facts and evidence concerning Elon Musk’s crypto trading and promotional activity were highlighted in an amended legal case on May 31.
The latest filing brings forward new evidence of Musk’s alleged market manipulation.
Twitter logo stunt highlighted
Plaintiffs note in the filing that Musk briefly replaced Twitter’s bird logo with the Dogecoin logo. This coincided with DOGE prices rising 30% and then falling after the original logo was restored.
That logo change occurred in April 2023, not in April 2022, as the case filing suggests. It nevertheless correlated with significant market changes, as claimed.
The filing also claims that Musk took responsibility for the “Dogecoin enterprise as a whole” and that he has a fiduciary relationship with the asset, as is necessary for a claim of insider trading. It also claims that Dogecoin is a security under the Exchange Act. It says that Musk and Tesla’s Dogecoin “whale” wallets have been identified.
The filing additionally alleges that Musk manipulated the Bitcoin market when Tesla traded Bitcoin. The company has bought and sold Bitcoin since 2021.
Finally, the amendment intends to remove The Dogecoin Foundation as a defendant. Separate reports from Reuters suggest the case judge has granted this request.
Counter to dismissal request
These developments follow previous events in Johnson et al v. Musk et al. The plaintiffs began that case in June 2022 and sought $258 billion in compensation.
Musk and Tesla attempted to dismiss the case around April 2023.
By introducing new facts and evidence, the plaintiffs intend to prove that their allegations are not futile. Musk and Tesla could otherwise succeed in dismissing the case.
According to Reuters, the U.S. judge responsible for the case has said in an order that he will “likely” allow the amended complaint, which is now amended for the third time.