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Elon Musk Hints Dogecoin Payment For Teslas ‘At Some Point’—Meme Currency Soars

forbes.com 14 March 2024 07:32, UTC

Topline

Meme cryptocurrency dogecoin surged on Thursday after Elon Musk hyped the Shiba-Inu-inspired token and hinted it could be accepted as payment for Tesla cars in the future, the latest in a long line of endorsements from the billionaire as the crypto market rallies and bitcoin soars to an all time high.

Key Facts

Dogecoin has climbed nearly 8% over the last 24 hours, reaching roughly $0.18, and with a market capitalization of around $26.5 billion, the popular—and notoriously volatile—meme token is one of the top ten most valuable cryptocurrencies.

The spike, largely an outlier among the tepid or stagnant gains among other leading cryptocurrencies over the past day, comes after Musk hyped up the meme-based cryptocurrency to a crowd at a Tesla factory in Germany.

When asked whether the electric vehicle maker would accept dogecoin as an official form of payment for its cars, Musk said he thinks the company “should enable that…at some point.”

Musk, who was visiting the Tesla Gigafactory near Berlin after an arson attack on a nearby electricity pylon stopped production last week, said fans of the meme coin can already use it to buy Tesla merchandise.

The billionaire, a long-term enthusiast of the dog-inspired coin, revealed why he endorses dogecoin over other crypto tokens, explaining that while “lots of rich people were supporting bitcoin,” the people working the line at his SpaceX and Tesla factories were asking him to support dogecoin.

“Doge is the people’s crypto, so I will support it,” Musk said.

Crucial Quote

“Dogecoin to the moon,” Musk said in Germany, eliciting a chorus of cheers from the audience. “To the moon” is a phrase commonly used in the crypto community to indicate optimism or conviction of a strong upward trend in price.

Key Background

Musk’s hyping of dogecoin marks a return to the frontlines for the billionaire after he repeatedly pumped the meme coin on social media, media appearances—including an appearance on “Saturday Night Live”—and the use of the “doge” meme that inspired the token to replace the iconic blue bird in Twitter’s logo. He even has a pet Shiba Inu, Floki, who has inspired another popular meme cryptocurrency of the same name. Dogecoin is an incredibly volatile asset even by cryptocurrency standards: Massive price fluctuations in a single day are not uncommon, and the token peaked at over $0.68 almost three years ago before plummeting below $0.10 in mid-2022. Musk has previously urged people to “invest with caution.” For meme-based coins like dogecoin in particular, it is not uncommon for prices to change significantly and by tens of percent within very short time spans.

Big Number

$2.85 trillion. That’s the total value of the cryptocurrency market by market capitalization. Bitcoin, which makes up around half of the total market, has hit a record high above $72,000 in the past week and it has grown around 8% over the last seven days ahead of an impending halving event next month. Other popular assets like ether, Solana’s sol and Binance’s BNB have also soared in recent weeks and the market has largely recovered from a crash below $1 trillion last year.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Musk is worth $191.8 billion. His fortune largely comes from the series of companies he cofounded and runs including electric carmaker Tesla, rocket firm SpaceX, tunneling enterprise The Boring Company and brain implant firm Neuralink. Musk’s fortune makes him the third richest person in the world after a drop in Tesla stock relegated him behind Amazon founder Jeff Bezos, who is worth an estimated $194.8 billion.