The price of dogecoin soared on Tuesday after Twitter owner Elon Musk chose a dog associated with this cryptocurrency as the new logo for the social network, while the billionaire was sued for promoting this digital token.
This decision by Elon Musk to replace the historic blue bird as Twitter’s logo, whether permanent or a short-lived joke, sent dogecoin up 21% to nearly 10 cents, according to CoinMarketCap.
The Tesla boss, who bought Twitter last October, has long used the platform for self-promotion and humor, sometimes in favor of dogecoin, a very volatile cryptocurrency originally created as a joke.
The multibillionaire has indicated in the past that he holds part of his fortune in bitcoin. He also raised the possibility of using dogecoin for online payments, sparking speculation about his vision for Twitter as a “do-it-all app”, like WeChat in China, which offers many services.
An investor who lost money betting on dogecoin filed a lawsuit in June 2022 seeking $258 billion from Elon Musk and his companies Tesla and SpaceX, but the billionaire denied the claims.
In a legal document added to the docket on Friday, his attorneys called the lawsuits a “fanciful narrative.” “There is nothing illegal about tweeting cheers or funny images about a legitimate cryptocurrency,” they said.
“Scam”
Twitter’s logo change prompted a slew of posts featuring the dog, including from Elon Musk himself.
He posted a conversation with a user from last year for his 133 million followers, in which he promised to buy Twitter and make the Shiba Inu his logo.
Launched in 2013, dogecoin was an ironic response to two web phenomena: cryptocurrencies, which were multiplying in the wake of bitcoin, and montages of a photo of a Shiba Inu dog that was very popular on the Internet.
Boosted by a certain buying frenzy around improbable values at the start of 2021, as well as by Elon Musk’s multiple positive messages on Twitter, dogecoin had soared to more than 70 cents in May 2021.
During a satirical show, the billionaire had sent contradictory messages, first calling dogecoin an “unstoppable financial vehicle that will take over the world”, then “a scam”, bursting out laughing. The token had then started to retreat.
“The dogecoin community doesn’t take itself too seriously. They have great memes and love dogs. And I love dogs and memes too, ”explained the entrepreneur in July 2021 during a discussion with Jack Dorsey, the co-founder of Twitter, during an online conference.
He continued to philosophize, chuckling about the likelihood that the “cryptocurrency that started out as a joke to poke fun at cryptocurrencies will end up becoming the mainstream cryptocurrency.”
On the bitcoin, he had assured that he “Buys but does not speculate”.