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▲ Tesla CEO Elon Musk, AP |
[에너지경제신문 안효건 기자] Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, an electric vehicle company in the United States, cynically said, “I hope that’s right” to rumors that securities regulators are investigating him.
On the 25th (local time) in the US stock market, rumors spread that Musk is being investigated by the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) for involvement in manipulating the market price of Dogecoin.
Seol started with the one-line news posted on Twitter by the online financial information media’First Squak’.
The media cited an internal source and said the SEC was investigating Musk’s Dogecoin tweet. Automotive media Electric also reported that “Musk is known to be under the SEC investigation on charges of manipulating the market price of some cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin.”
The SEC has no authority to regulate the cryptocurrency market. However, when the SEC consistently did not respond to requests for media confirmation, the rumor spread online.
The British Daily Mail reported that Musk opened his mouth five hours after the first rumors came out.
Musk replied when a netizen tweeted, “Long live the Musk Emperor,” saying that the SEC is trying to investigate Dogecoin, whose price has skyrocketed this year.
“I hope they (SEC) will do that,” Musk said. “If you investigate, it would be amazing.”
Musk’s comment is also interpreted as being due to uncomfortable feelings toward the SEC.
Musk tweeted about the delisting of Tesla in August 2018, and there was a lot of chaos in the market. Musk withdrew the policy after three weeks as shareholder opposition continued.
In response, the SEC sued Musk on charges of securities fraud, claiming that Musk had deceived investors. Musk and Tesla agreed to pay a fine of $40 million in both private and corporate names.
Earlier this year, Musk helped spark the Dogecoin craze.
Musk has posted several articles advocating Dogecoin on Twitter. On the 10th, it was revealed that the purchase of Dogecoin was made.
The Daily Mail said, “Regardless of Musk’s holdings of cryptocurrencies, his Dogecoin tweets are unlikely to violate the law. The SEC, which controls the stock market, does not regulate cryptocurrency.”
However, as Tesla recently announced a $1.5 billion bitcoin purchase, there are also observations that Musk may be subject to SEC investigation as Tesla CEO.
“If you focus on Musk’s tweets, bitcoin prices and dramatic recent market movements, the SEC can confirm the facts against (listed CEO) Musk, and this is surprising,” said Doug Davis, Linklaters Law Firm Advisor from SEC’s Sanction Enforcement Office This is not,” he said.
The Dogecoin price is currently trading at $0.049, down 11% or more due to rumors from Musk research.