Dogecoin spikes 10% as Elon Musk takes an almost $3 billion stake in Twitter

It was revealed on Monday that Musk took a 9.2% stake in Twitter, a stock purchase worth just under $3 billion. Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency that Musk owns and frequently supports, immediately spiked 10% on the news.

Dogecoin’s DOGE token jumped from $0.143 to around $0.156 this morning. It is currently trading at around $0.15, according to price tracker CoinGecko.

Musk has spoken in support of Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies countless times. In many instances, his tweets have impacted the prices of said cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that was created in 2013 as a joke. Based on the “Doge” meme, which portrays a Shiba Inu, its cocreators, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, didn’t intend for Dogecoin to be taken seriously: It was “created for sillies,” Markus wrote in a 2021 Reddit post. “I threw it together, without any expectation or plan. It took about 3 hours to make.”

Musk is an avid user of Twitter, often posting his hot takes on cryptocurrency, along with a range of other subjects. He also tweets about Twitter itself. 

“Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy,” Musk tweeted on March 25, as part of a poll he presented to his 80 million followers. “Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?”

He added that the “consequences of this poll will be important. Please vote carefully.” A day later, Musk insinuated that he might be looking to start a new social media platform.

This may be the first time that Dogecoin has jumped based on a Musk move that is not directly related to Dogecoin. However, Musk has hyped Dogecoin many times, saying that the meme-inspired cryptocurrency is best suited for transactions and that it’s the “people’s crypto.”

When Tesla announced in January that it would be accepting DOGE as payment for select merchandise, the cryptocurrency shot up 11%.

Musk’s relationship with Dogecoin isn’t new. He started to tweet about the cryptocurrency back in 2019, and has continued to do so over the years. In addition to owning Dogecoin, he has mentioned working with DOGE developers on bettering its network. 

Musk has even joked about Dogecoin potentially becoming the future reserve currency.

“The point is that Dogecoin was invented as a joke, essentially to make fun of cryptocurrency,” he told TMZ in May. “Fate loves irony. What would be the most ironic outcome? The currency that started as a joke in fact becomes the real currency. To the moon!”