Last night we were surprised to see that the Twitter symbol inside the app had disappeared. In its place we had the face of a well-known dog in the crypto world: the Dogecoin logo.
Elon Musk says it is in response to a joke. A few thousand experts believe the real reason is the usual one: to manipulate the market so he can trade as he pleases. Elon Musk has millions of Dogecoin and, it is possible, he sold them all yesterday taking advantage of the push.
What is Dogecoin and how is it related to Elon Musk?
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency, specifically a “memecoin”, which was invented for laughs. It was inspired by the popular meme “doge”, which features a Shiba Inu breed dog (very famous in Japan).
At its peak in May 2021, the coin traded as high as nearly 70 cents before falling to less than 6 cents. Even after Monday’s rise, the coin was trading just above 9 cents.
Even though its individual units were almost worthless, some investors accumulated the coin in such volumes that they make small fortunes every time the coin experienced spikes in value. Elon Musk is one of them.
Elon Musk has long pushed dogecoin, at one point referring to himself as the “Dogefather.” In 2021, he detailed plans to launch a satellite called “Doge-1” to the moon, a mission he said would be funded by dogecoin.
In January 2022, Musk announced that certain Tesla products could be purchased with the currency. Months later, he revealed that Tesla itself had bought a lot of dogecoin.
Why is the dog now on Twitter?
The CEO has not explained why the Twitter home button is now an image of a Shiba Inu. But it has become public that Elon Musk is trying to dismiss a lawsuit filed by dogecoin investors that claims Musk boosted the price of the cryptocurrency and then let it plummet.
The plaintiffs are demanding $258 billion in damages, while Musk’s lawyers argue that the lawsuit is a “work of fanciful fiction.”
On Monday, Musk tweeted a meme referencing the icon change. But in between jokes, the current CEO of Twitter and Tesla has managed to push the price up 30% in a few hours. To what end?
With Elon Musk, it’s impossible to know what his next move will be. What is clear is that it will be controversial and will anger a lot of people.
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