Wow, as bears continue to wreak havoc on financial markets, ripping dreams of overnight wealth to shreds in the crypto space, at least one disillusioned Dogecoin holder has had enough of Elon Musk's social media shenanigans and has gone howling to the courts with a multi-billion dollar legal claim.
US Dogecoin investor, Keith Johnson, has filed a $258 billion class action lawsuit against Elon Musk, SpaceX and Tesla Inc, alleging illegal behavior to manipulate Dogecoin's price.
Referring to Dogecoin as a Ponzi scheme, the lawsuit states: "Dogecoin is not a currency, stock, or security. It is not backed by gold, other precious metal, or anything at all. You can't eat it, grow it, or wear it... It's simply a fraud whereby 'greater fools' are deceived into buying the coin at a higher price."
And I mean, it is a memecoin which the founders, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, have repeatedly labelled as a joke. Nonetheless, by his lawsuit, it appears as though none of this had as much influence over the plaintiff's investment decisions as Musk's cryptic tweets and instructional videos such as, Who Let the Doge Out.
Investing in a space where the common mantra is DO YOUR OWN RESEARCH, and INVEST ONLY WHAT YOU ARE PREPARED TO LOSE, Johnson alleges that since Musk began supporting Dogecoin in 2019, holders- himself included- lost approximately $86 billion in the "crypto scheme".
And on that note, I guess here would be a nice place to segue to an oft-repeated statement from our favorite nonagenarian billionaire, Warren Buffet, the Oracle of Omaha: "Only when the tide goes out do you discover who's been swimming naked".
I'd add to that by saying that skinny dipping is fun until you wake up to the reality that you're bleeding in an ocean full of sharks. Yeah, maybe not as wise as Buffet's statement, but that's why he's the billionaire and I'm just a keyboard commentator, right?
Anyways, I guess, by his lawsuit, Johnson is throwing in the towel and declaring that his dreams of making it to the moon on a Dogecoin rocket one day are dead, though he doesn't mind clambering aboard a launcher financed by Musk, SpaceX and et al to head to outer space.
Accusing Musk and co-defendants of everything from Civil RICO wire fraud, gambling, common law fraud, negligence, false advertising, deceptive practices, failure to warn, and unjust enrichment, Johnson is asking for an order preventing unlicensed professionals from promoting Dogecoin, an order declaring that trading in Dogecoin constitutes gambling, class monetary damages in the amount of $86 billion, treble damages in the amount of $172 billion, attorneys' fees and the costs of the action.
Well, friends, what do you think of this lawsuit and its chances of success? Personally, I don't think the lawsuit will succeed, but I confess that I have zero knowledge about the workings of a courtroom, so I am as interested as the next person about the outcome of this case.
Meanwhile, in an unrelated interview with Fortune recently, another billionaire crypto investor, Mark Cuban, repeated Buffet's statement about swimming naked when the tide is out while commenting on crypto's ability to survive the current bear season.
Cuban, a Shark Tank investor, said, "In stocks and crypto, you will see companies that were sustained by cheap, easy money—but didn’t have valid business prospects—will disappear."
Nevertheless, he believes that crypto will survive and that despite negative sentiment, disruptive applications and technology released during the bear market- "whether stocks or crypto or any business"- will find a market and succeed.
And so, my friends, I have a question. It's okay, I won't hold you to it. I'm curious though: which projects do you think will survive this downturn, and which top 100 project do you think might possibly crash? I'd love to hear your views.
Well, I'm off again in search of another story. Until we meet again, please remember to be safe. We will connect again soon.
