Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., has won the dismissal of a high-profile $258 billion lawsuit accusing him and his company of manipulating the price of Dogecoin (DOGE), a popular meme-based cryptocurrency.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein ruled in favor of Musk and Tesla, dismissing the claims of a group of disgruntled investors.

The judge ruled that the tweets were “bombastic” and not actionable

The lawsuit, filed in June 2022 by a group of Dogecoin holders, alleged that Musk and his company used social media and public statements to artificially inflate the token’s price and then allowed it to fall, causing them significant financial losses.

The plaintiffs alleged that Musk’s tweets and public support for the meme coin caused its price to rise more than 36,000% over two years before it eventually crashed.

Judge Hellerstein dismissed the allegations, ruling that the SpaceX CEO’s statements were “aspirational” and amounted to “bombshells” rather than substantiated claims. The judge also found that the statements were “not factual and are susceptible to falsification” and that “no reasonable investor could rely on them” as a basis for making investment decisions.

The plaintiffs pointed to several tweets by Musk as evidence of material misrepresentations, including his claim that he would become the “official CEO of Dogecoin” and his assertion that he could put “real Dogecoin” on a SpaceX rocket and send it to the moon.

Pump and Dump Allegations

Investors also accused the billionaire and his electric car company of engaging in a “pump and dump” scheme involving the meme coin. However, the judge ruled that they failed to provide a clear and plausible explanation for how the two came to be involved in such a situation.

“It is impossible to understand the allegations that underlie plaintiffs’ finding of market manipulation,” Hellerstein wrote in his decision.

According to a March 31 Reuters report, Musk’s legal team had previously sought to have the case dismissed, arguing that his accusers had failed to demonstrate how he intended to defraud anyone or what risks he had concealed.

They argued that his tweets, including statements like “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no ups, no downs, just Doge,” were too vague to support the fraud allegations.

“There is nothing illegal about tweeting supportive words or funny pictures about a legitimate cryptocurrency that still has a market cap of nearly $10 billion,” his lawyers argued.

They added that the court should put the plaintiffs’ fantasy to rest and dismiss the complaint.