Dogecoin price value: Elon Musk tweet sends ‘meme currency’ soaring 65% in 24hours
THE VALUE of meme-inspired cryptocurrency, dogecoin, has soared today after a tweet from Elon Musk.
Bitcoin sees price surge following Elon Musk endorsement
The price dogecoin rose by 50 percent today minutes after the Tesla chief executive tweeted: “Dogecoin is the people’s crypto”. He then added: “No highs, no lows, only Doge”. Mr Musk also tweeted a member of himself and dogecoin in Disney’s Lion King.
The cryptocurrency is up 65.86% as of 2pm today.
Dogecoin uses a Shiba Inu dog meme as its logo and was started in 2013 as a joke following the invention of bitcoin.
However, the coins built up a market value of £4.6bn ($6.3bn) by this morning, according to Coinmarketcap.com, a cryptocurrency data provider.
The value of a single coin rose to $0.05204 this morning, which was up by almost three cents in 24 hours.
According to the Guardian, the volume of trading tripled over the course of the day.
This comes just days after Mr Musk vowed to take a break from Twitter.
In recent weeks, Mr Musk’s social media presence has helped to move financial markets.
Last week, the price of bitcoin also rose after Mr Musk said he was a “supporter” of the cryptocurrency.
Mr Musk said on Clubhouse: “I am late to the party but a supporter.
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“I think Bitcoin is on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people.”
He added: “Many friends of mine have tried to convince me to get involved in bitcoin for a long time."
He then posted: "In retrospect, it was inevitable."
Mr Musk also said previous comments about dogecoin were “really just meant to be jokes”.
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Bitcoin’s price rose above $38,000 after the Tesla boss changed his Twitter biography to “#bitcoin”.
Last month, Mr Musk became the richest person in the world, above Amazon founder Jeff Bezos.
This was due to the value of his shareholding in Tesla soaring in part because of huge interest in the electric car manufacturer.
This week, Mr Musk faced a crisis after US regulators recalled tens of thousands of the Model 3 car.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has asked the company to recall 158,000 Model 3s and Model Ys after it received complaints about the cars’ central control unit (MCU) not working.
In Teslas, the MCU replaces traditional dashboard controls such as heating with one large touchscreen. It also provides rear-view camera images and defrosting.
Regulators feared the failures could lead to crashes, the BBC reports, though Tesla has advised drivers to “perform a shoulder check and use the mirrors” if a MCU failure does occur.
The company has now apparently sent emails to customers saying they will be reimbursed if they have paid for MCU repairs before.
The recall is due to begin at the end of March. Tesla said it would contact customers “when the parts become available”.