SpaceX CEO Elon Musk is seemingly considering allowing payments in meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin DOGE/USD for Starlink services in Brazil after the country’s Supreme Court froze its bank accounts.
What happened: “Hmm … you make a good point,” Musk wrote on social media platform X in response to a user who opined that Dogecoin could fix the issue caused by Starlink’s bank account freeze in Brazil.
Last week, Musk said that SpaceX will continue to provide Starlink satellite internet services to the Brazilian military as well as other users for free despite the country's Supreme Court Justice Alexandre de Moraes freezing Starlink's finances.
"Starlink will continue to support the Brazilian military even though our bank accounts in Brazil have been illegally frozen by Judge De Voldemort," Musk said on X. The billionaire entrepreneur also said that the company will continue to provide internet service to users in Brazil for free until the matter is resolved as the company cannot receive payments.
Starlink’s Bank Account Freeze: The Supreme Court of Brazil imposed a financial freeze on Starlink last week. The court’s decision, signed by Supreme Court Judge de Moraes, is a response to X's lack of a legal representative in Brazil as required by its laws for internet companies. The freeze also pertains to a separate issue regarding unpaid fines that X was directed to pay due to its failure to provide certain documents.
Musk has alleged that the court order is "absolutely illegal" and "improperly punishes" SpaceX shareholders as SpaceX and X are "completely different" companies. Musk owns the social media platform X and about 42% of SpaceX.
According to SpaceX, it has over a quarter million Starlink customers in Brazil, including small businesses, schools, and first responders. The company said on Thursday that it is attempting to ensure that internet services to its users are not interrupted owing to the legal dispute.
Musk and Dogecoin: Over the years, Dogecoin's price movement has become increasingly linked to social posts and endorsements by Musk, as well as developments around companies owned by him.
Earlier this month, Musk posted an AI-generated image referencing the cryptocurrency through his X account, which caused it to spike.
Last week, Musk and his EV company Tesla secured the dismissal of a federal lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors through insider trading and market manipulation of Dogecoin.
The decision was delivered on Thursday night by U.S. District Judge Alvin Hellerstein. Investors had accused Musk of exploiting Twitter (now X) posts and other publicity stunts to trade profitably at their expense through several Dogecoin wallets controlled by him or Tesla.
Judge Hellerstein, however, stated that no reasonable investor could rely on social media posts to pursue a securities fraud claim. The lawsuit was subsequently dismissed with prejudice, preventing it from being filed again.
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