Elon Musk and Twitter are set for another court showdown as the billionaire launches a countersuit against the social media giant, which sued him for canceling the $44 billion contract to acquire the platform.

Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and his legal counsels are alleging in a recent filing that Twitter hoodwinked them about the social media giant’s “key metrics,” and manipulated its value in an attempt to induce the billionaire to purchase the firm at a jacked-up price.

Musk offered to purchase Twitter earlier this year, but changed his mind and attempted to back out of the agreement by asserting the social media network was plagued with a significantly bigger number of “spam bots” and bogus accounts than Twitter reported.

The filing accuses fraud and contends that Twitter’s filings to the Securities and Exchange Commission were “far from the truth” and “contain multiple, major misrepresentations or omissions that distort Twitter’s value.”

Elon Musk: Twitter Uses Bots And Lies About User Count

Twitter claimed in its response that its SEC filings are correct and that the firm “made no misrepresentations,” according to The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal.

Musk claims Twitter is lying about its active user count and how many of them are bots, and that his fraud allegations against the firm are adding to a so-called “adverse effect” that should allow him to withdraw from the contract, The Verge disclosed.

The notion that Musk was “duped” into signing the merger is “as improbable and contradictory to the facts as it sounds,” Twitter stated, adding Musk is allegedly creating justifications to get out of the deal, according to reports.

As part of its lawsuit against Elon Musk, Twitter has subpoenaed cryptocurrency exchange Binance and over a dozen of Musk’s advisors and potential lenders. Musk disclosed in May that he has secured investment from 18 firms, including Binance, to acquire Twitter.

The ‘Dogefather’ And His Influence On Crypto Community

Elon Musk, the wealthiest man in the world, is a well-known Dogecoin enthusiast. In a recent appearance on the Full Send Podcast, the self-proclaimed “Dogefather” stated that Dogecoin’s blockchain had a significantly higher transactional capacity compared to Bitcoin.

Elon Musk’s influence on the cryptocurrency community has been scientifically demonstrated. According to a research conducted by Dr. Lennart Ante for the Blockchain Research Lab, the “Musk Effect” is real.

Every time the billionaire comments about Dogecoin on Twitter, the price of this cryptocurrency typically rises relatively quickly.

Twitter describes Musk’s rationale for withdrawing from the acquisition agreement as “a tale he made up to exit a merger agreement he no longer found appealing.”

The trial between Twitter and Elon Musk is slated to begin on October 17.

DOGE total market cap at $9.11 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com

Featured image from Nikkei Asia, chart from TradingView.com