Elon Musk is being sued for $258 billion because of Dogecoin

Elon Musk pulling a jokey face at the camera.
(Image credit: Bloomberg via Getty Images)

Elon Musk, Tesla, and SpaceX are being sued for an astounding $258 billion—not a typo, that's billion—for running a pyramid scheme through the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. According to a Reuters report, the suit was filed by Dogecoin investor Keith Johnson, who accused Musk of using his wealth and position as CEO of the two companies to promote Dogecoin to drive up its price, before ultimately letting it fall.

"Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading," the complaint says. "Musk used his pedestal as World's Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement."

Dogecoin was introduced in 2013 mainly as a joke, but there is no such thing as satire under capitalism, and in very short order it became the first meme coin, and a legitimate (such as they are) cryptocurrency. Its value was flatlined near zero for years until Musk tweeted about it in late 2020, which caused a sharp jump in price. Subsequent tweets in 2021 pushed it even higher; it peaked in May 2021 at $0.74 but has since come crashing down, shedding more than 90% of its price, and currently sits at roughly $0.06.

Ironically, the suit claims that the Dogecoin dump began when Musk hosted Saturday Night Live, which also happened in May 2021: During a Weekend Update segment, Musk appeared as a cryptocurrency expert, but after trying and failing several times to explain what Dogecoin is, he ultimately agreed with the host that the whole thing is "a hustle."

YouTube YouTube
Watch On

Johnson wants Musk and his companies prohibited from promoting Dogecoin, and for trading Dogecoin to be declared gambling under federal and state laws. He also wants, again, $258 billion: $86 billion in actual damages, representing the loss of Dogecoin value since May 2021, plus a claim for treble damages. It seems like a long shot—filing a lawsuit is a long way from winning one (or even having it heard) and even if Johnson comes out on top, Musk is rich but he's not that rich—but I guess if you're going to take a shot, you might as well aim high.

Musk isn't the only wealthy person to run into trouble for promoting Dogecoin. Former anti-virus guru John McAfee was charged with fraud in 2021 for running schemes involving multiple cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin. Shortly before McAfee was scheduled to be extradited to the US to face charges, he was found dead in a Spanish prison cell.

Andy Chalk
US News Lead

Andy has been gaming on PCs from the very beginning, starting as a youngster with text adventures and primitive action games on a cassette-based TRS80. From there he graduated to the glory days of Sierra Online adventures and Microprose sims, ran a local BBS, learned how to build PCs, and developed a longstanding love of RPGs, immersive sims, and shooters. He began writing videogame news in 2007 for The Escapist and somehow managed to avoid getting fired until 2014, when he joined the storied ranks of PC Gamer. He covers all aspects of the industry, from new game announcements and patch notes to legal disputes, Twitch beefs, esports, and Henry Cavill. Lots of Henry Cavill.

Read more
 In this photo illustration a novelty Bitcoin token is photographed on a US Dollar bank note, on January 4, 2025 in Bath, England. The Cryptocurrency market has recently received a significant boost by the election of Donald Trump with hopes of the start of a policy framework that could see Bitcoin as a strategic asset
Man charged with $65,000,000 worth of cryptocurrency heists was reportedly discovered through chatting on Discord with a company they allegedly stole from
Fugitive crypto baron Do Kwon is arrested.
'Lunatic' crypto fugitive Do Kwon finally extradited from Montenegro to the US to face charges over $40 billion crash
Hacker
$1.5 billion crypto heist could be the biggest yet, more than doubling the previous record, but don't worry: The affected firm says it can take the hit
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA - APRIL 13: Elon Musk attends the 2024 Breakthrough Prize Ceremony at Academy Museum of Motion Pictures on April 13, 2024 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)
Musk reportedly tells X staff 'we're barely breaking even' as the big banks start getting antsy over their debt
Fuck you bitcoin
Man on hopeless quest to recover $600 million of Bitcoin from landfill is finally told by the High Court to quit it, says he's 'very upset'
John McAfee
John McAfee is back from the grave as some sort of AI ghoul-slash-memecoin, and his widow's picking a fight with Elon Musk
Latest in Software
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Otter AI Meeting Agent
As if your work meetings weren't already fun enough, now Otter has a new all-hearing AI agent that remembers everything anyone has said and can join in the discussion
Microsoft's iconic Bliss wallpaper
From pixels to pinot: The Windows XP 'Bliss' wallpaper hill was real and this is what it looks like now
Napster client circa 1999
Former music-pirating platform Napster to be reborn rather ironically as a metaverse for musicians to connect with their fans after $207 million deal
New Discord desktop client themes.
Discord drops big update with 'completely new' in-game overlay and new dark themes for the desktop client
Image for
'No real human would go four links deep into a maze of AI-generated nonsense': Cloudflare's AI Labyrinth uses decoy pages to trap web-crawling bots and feed them slop 'as a defensive weapon'
Latest in News
A screenshot from SaGa Frontier 2, showing one of the protagonists wandering through a quaint fantasy village
One of Square Enix' most underrated PlayStation-era JRPGs just shadow dropped on Steam
The titular character from Princess Mononoke is depicted riding the wolf goddess Moro and carrying a spear.
Studio Ghibli AI image trend floods social media, cheered on by OpenAI and denounced by critics as an insult to Hayao Miyazaki
Marvel Rivals tier list - Wolverine
Marvel Rivals director says a future patch will reduce the shooter's insatiable hunger for RAM: 'It's a very big problem'
Hogwarts Legacy potions professor holding a potion
An unannounced Hogwarts Legacy expansion and 'definitive edition' have reportedly been cancelled
Story of Seasons - A cahacter in a purple tuxedo stands outside in a town square talking to the player
Story of Seasons is doing another Harvest Moon remake and it might be the best the series has ever looked
Assassin's Creed Shadows change seasons - An upper-body shot of Yasuke looking cheerfully up into the distance.
Assassin's Creed Shadows puts up the 'second highest day-one sales revenue in Assassin's Creed franchise history'