Twitter’s recent logo change to the Doge meme, the same icon used by Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that is known as a “memecoin,” caused the value of Dogecoin to surge by 20% in just 30 minutes, on Monday.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Twitter, has been a big supporter of Dogecoin and his tweets and TV appearances on shows like Saturday Night Live have had a significant impact on the cryptocurrency’s value. Since taking over as the CEO of Twitter in October 2021, Musk has enthusiastically moved the memecoin’s market, and his actions have often influenced its value.
Dogecoin, which is the first memecoin, is a cryptocurrency that lacks any underlying value apart from its status as a joke. Despite its levity, the token has amassed a massive following, with a market cap of over $13 billion, although each coin is still worth less than 10 cents.
Musk has often capitalized on Dogecoin’s internet popularity, and in December 2021, he boasted that Tesla would begin accepting Dogecoin for some of its merchandise. Experts have speculated that Musk’s long-term plan for Twitter is to transform it into a payments service where users can transfer both fiat and cryptocurrency to creators and other users.
Dogecoin is not the only cryptocurrency that Musk has been involved in. In February 2021, Tesla bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin, although the company sold 75% of its holdings during a market downturn in mid-2022.
After Twitter changed its logo, users speculated about the reason behind it, with theories ranging from its comedic value to a ploy by Musk to increase Dogecoin’s value and shore up the social media platform’s massive losses. Musk shed light on the decision a couple of hours after the change, tweeting an exchange he had with a user who recommended that he buy Twitter and change the logo to a dodge.