'Stopelon' Group Protests Elon Musk's Cryptocurrency 'Market Manipulation' Outside Tesla Fremont Factory

Supporters of a new cryptocurrency named “StopElon” on Sunday protested outside Tesla Inc.’s TSLA Fremont factory over CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in the cryptocurrency market, according to a report by NBC Bay Area News.

What Happened: Activists of the “Stopelon” group alleged that Musk has far too much power over the cryptocurrency market. The group also wants Musk to be removed from the social media company Twitter Inc.'s TWTR platform.

A video of the protests showed that the placards carried by the activists bore slogans such as, “We’re fed up,” “Stop Tweeting!” and “Stop market manipulation.”

See Also: How to Buy Bitcoin (BTC)

“Our plan is to purchase as many shares of Tesla as we can through the cryptocurrency movement and also to put together a voting trust to allow other people in doing that,” said Michael Hamilton, one of the activists.

On its website, StopElon says it is a community-driven movement to “stop one of the biggest market manipulators.” StopElon’s plan is to use the capital raised through the project to gain full control of Tesla stock and fire the firm's CEO.

See Also: STOPELON Coin Surges 512% In A Day After Crypto Community Gets Into A Fight With Elon Musk

Why It Matters: Musk has often endorsed cryptocurrencies on social media, but opinion now seems to be divided in the cryptocurrency community over whether he is actually a supporter, especially following the recent cryptocurrency market crash.

The tech tycoon, who has 56.7 million followers on Twitter, has been accused of being a “manipulator,” who is using his position and massive following to influence the crypto market.

Musk’s recent comments about apex cryptocurrency Bitcoin (BTC) and Dogecoin (DOGE) have whipsawed the cryptocurrency markets. The billionaire entrepreneur’s announcement in May that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as a form of payment due to environmental concerns sent the cryptocurrency’s price tumbling.

Meanwhile, meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin has shot to prominence this year, in major part due to endorsement from Musk.

Recently, the Tesla CEO enflamed Twitter with a Bitcoin breakup tweet.

Price Action: Tesla shares closed 4.6% higher in Friday’s trading at $599.05.

Bitcoin is almost 0.8% higher during the past 24 hours and is trading at $36,318.20 at press time, while Dogecoin is up 0.4% during the last 24 hours and is trading at $0.375 at press time.

Photo by Daniel Oberhaus on Flickr