Elon Musk’s Dogecoin Prophecy Fulfilled: Twitter’s Logo Change Sends Doge Prices Soaring
The world of cryptocurrency is never boring. The price of Dogecoin, a digital currency that started as a meme, has surged once again after Elon Musk, the billionaire entrepreneur, changed his Twitter icon to a picture of a dog. This sudden change confused Twitter users but greatly impacted Dogecoin prices, which rose over 30% to 7.9p.
This surge in value helped the market cap of Dogecoin, which has been struggling for the past few months, to top $14 billion. The last time Dogecoin was valued at this level was back in May 2021. However, this gain in value is small compared to the 83% drop that the currency has seen since its peak in May 2021, when it was worth 46p.
Elon Musk, who is known for his love for cryptocurrencies, posted an old conversation thread with his account WCBChairmain from March 2022 just after changing his Twitter icon. The thread suggested that Musk should buy Twitter and change its icon to the Dogecoin dog. It is unclear whether the change is permanent or a temporary April Fools’ Day joke.
Musk’s love for cryptocurrencies is not new. In July last year, he told Tesla shareholders that the carmaker still held Dogecoin despite selling off most of the Bitcoin it held. The total value of its digital assets at the time was $218 million. Musk himself has also said that he owns Dogecoin and Bitcoin, although it is unclear how much Dogecoin he and Tesla both own.
However, Musk’s love for cryptocurrencies has also landed him in legal trouble. In 2022, he was sued for $258 billion (£207bn) by a crypto investor in New York for inflating the price of the cryptocurrency under the premise that it was a pyramid scheme. Musk has asked a US judge to drop the case, stating that there is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for or funny pictures about a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.
Elon Musk’s love affair with Dogecoin has been well-documented over the years. From a crypto-themed SpaceX mission to the moon to a Twitter spat with one of its creators, Musk has had a significant impact on the trajectory of this cryptocurrency.
The history of Dogecoin dates back to 2013 when two software engineers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, decided to combine two of that year’s biggest phenomena: Bitcoin and the Doge meme. The meme featured an image of a Shiba Inu dog with Comic Sans thought bubbles spouting out of it, and it quickly gained popularity on Reddit.
With Reddit’s help, Dogecoin quickly developed its own subculture in 2013, but it wasn’t until 2019 that Musk publicly took note of the cryptocurrency. By then, Dogecoin had already gained significant traction in the online world, buoyed by its popularity for the internet practice of “tipping.”
Tipping, in this context, was a way for people to repay each other on the web for performing “good deeds.” For example, if someone shared an idea or made a platform more accessible, they could receive tips in the form of Dogecoin. This helped to drive the digital currency’s value up to around $8 million in 2013.
But it wasn’t until 2020 that Musk’s involvement with Dogecoin really took off. In April of that year, he tweeted, “Dogecoin might be my favourite cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.” This tweet alone was enough to send Dogecoin’s value soaring, as Musk’s endorsement was seen as a stamp of approval from one of the world’s most influential entrepreneurs.
Since then, Musk has continued to champion Dogecoin on social media. He has frequently tweeted about it, including posting memes that reference the cryptocurrency. He has even gone so far as to change his Twitter bio to “Former CEO of Dogecoin” and change his profile picture to a photo of a Shiba Inu wearing sunglasses.
However, Musk’s most significant impact on Dogecoin came in 2021 when he announced that SpaceX would launch a “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in partnership with Geometric Energy Corporation. The mission, which is set to take place in 2022, will see a small satellite sent to the moon with Dogecoin as the primary payment method.
This announcement sent Dogecoin’s value soaring once again, with the cryptocurrency reaching an all-time high of $0.69 in May 2021. However, this was short-lived, as the cryptocurrency experienced an 83% drop in value in the months that followed.
Musk’s love affair with Dogecoin has shown no signs of slowing down despite this setback. He has continued to tweet about cryptocurrency, and his influence over its value remains strong. While it remains to be seen what the future holds for Dogecoin, it is clear that Elon Musk will continue to play a significant role in its development and popularity.
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