Elon Musk requested a U.S. decide on Friday to throw out a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing him of operating a pyramid scheme to assist the cryptocurrency Dogecoin.

In a night submitting in Manhattan federal courtroom, attorneys for Musk and his electrical automotive firm Tesla Inc known as the lawsuit by Dogecoin traders a “fanciful work of fiction” over Musk’s “innocuous and sometimes foolish tweets” about Dogecoin.

The attorneys mentioned the traders by no means defined how Musk supposed to defraud anybody or what dangers he hid, and that his statements akin to “Dogecoin Rulz” and “no highs, no lows, solely Doge” have been too obscure to assist a fraud declare.

“There may be nothing illegal about tweeting phrases of assist for, or humorous footage about, a legit cryptocurrency that continues to carry a market cap of practically $10 billion,” Musk’s attorneys mentioned. “This courtroom ought to put a cease to plaintiffs’ fantasy and dismiss the grievance.”

In a footnote, the attorneys additionally rejected the traders’ declare that Dogecoin certified as a safety.

The traders’ lawyer, Evan Spencer, mentioned in an e mail: “We’re extra assured than ever that our case can be profitable.”

Traders accused Musk, the world’s second-richest individual based on Forbes, of intentionally driving up Dogecoin’s worth greater than 36,000% over two years after which letting it crash.

They mentioned this generated billions of {dollars} of revenue at different Dogecoin traders’ expense, whilst Musk knew the forex lacked intrinsic worth.

Traders additionally pointed to Musk’s look on a “Weekend Replace” phase of NBC’s “Saturday Night time Reside” the place, portraying a fictitious monetary skilled, he known as Dogecoin “a hustle.”

The $258 billion damages determine is triple the estimated decline in Dogecoin’s market worth within the 13 months earlier than the lawsuit was filed.

Dogecoin Basis, a nonprofit, can also be a defendant and in search of the lawsuit’s dismissal.

Musk’s posts on Twitter, which he owns, have prompted a number of lawsuits.

He gained a courtroom victory on Feb. 3 when a San Francisco jury discovered him not accountable for tweeting in August 2018 that he had organized financing to take Tesla personal.

The case is Johnson et al v. Musk et al, U.S. District Courtroom, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037.