A Dogecoin investor alleged Elon Musk was complicit in a pyramid scheme to raise the value of the cryptocurrency. The allegations were made in a lawsuit he filed against the billionaire, Johnson v. Musk et al, U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York, No. 22-05037.

The plaintiff, Keith Johnson, alleged in the complaint filed in federal court in Manhattan, that Tesla, SpaceX, and Musk engaged in racketeering by touting Dogecoin, which had no real value or rationale, to drive the price up to artificial highs, only to then allow it to collapse.

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

The complaint then borrows quotes from Warren Buffet, Bill Gates, and others denigrating the value of cryptocurrency.

There was no comment on the lawsuit, from Tesla, SpaceX, or Elon Musk’s lawyers.

The Plaintiff’s lawyer declined comment as well.

Johnson is seeking $86 billion in damages, the decline in Dogecoin’s value since May 2021, and wants it tripled. He also wants Musk barred from promoting Doge, and wants trading in it declared gambling under New York law.

Dogecoin was trading at 5.8 cents on Thursday, down from a peak of about 74 cents.