*Cryptocurrency investor and plaintiff Keith Johnson is seeking $86billion in damages tripled for alleged fraud and related financial losses incurred, and for Elon Musk and his companies to be banned from advertising Dogecoin in a lawsuit filed in Federal Court, in Manhattan, United States

Alexander Davis | ConsumerConnect

American billionaire businessman Elon Musk has been sued for $258billion by a Dogecoin investor for allegedly defrauding him through a “crypto pyramid scheme”.

ConsumerConnect learnt Musk, along with his companies Tesla and SpaceX, appeared in the lawsuit filed Thursday, June 16, 2022, in Federal Court, in Lower Manhattan, in the United States (US).

Keith Johnson, a Dogecoin investor, claims that Musk drove up the price of Dogecoin through promotional tweets and other social media for his “profit, exposure, and amusement.”

Photo: CNBC

The plaintiff, in the lawsuit, also accuses Dogecoin of being “simply a fraud” since it has no underlying value and argues that Musk’s support for this cryptocurrency was deceptive.

According to Johnson, billionaire Musk, who he calls the self-appointed Dogefather, gathered the “Doge Army” to increase Dogecoin’s trade value while being fully aware of his influence on the market cap.

The army included Snoop Dogg and Mark Cuban, agency report said.

Additionally, Johnson elaborates that Musk’s description of the Dogecoin blockchain technology was confusing, leading the plaintiff to believe that its value would increase while “it has no value at all.”

Currently, the price of a Dogecoin stands at 5.7 cents, while in May 2021, it averaged 74 cents, according to report.

“Dogecoin is not a currency, stock, or security. It’s 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,” the lawsuit stated.

Johnson is seeking $86billion in damages tripled for related financial losses incurred since 2019 and for Elon Musk and his companies to be banned from advertising Dogecoin. Additionally, he wishes for a judge to declare trading Dogecoin gambling.

During Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, he called Dogecoin “a hustle,” which caused the trade value to skyrocket and the price to plummet, according to the complaint.