Every dog (coin) has its day, and Dogecoin has had several. It’s having another one right now with the news Tesla has begun accepting the crypto as payment for its company merchandise.
CEO Elon Musk made the announcement earlier today on Twitter (where else), with a simple message…
… and wouldn’t you know it, the DOGE price immediately pumped 25 per cent. It’s now up about 15 per cent since this time yesterday and sitting at US$0.197, one spot outside the top 10 by market cap with a total valuation of about US$26.2 billion.
Musk first announced Tesla would be taking his favourite crypto as a merch-payment option late last year and it surged then, but it’s gone live today, hence another price push on this news.
Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus (aka “Shibetoshi Nakamoto”) led a rallying call to splurge on the merch with: “Alright #dogecoin community, you know what to do”.
Faithful DOGE fans responded almost immediately, with users buying items including T-shirts, belt buckles, “cyberwhistles” and even Tesla tequila.
In an interview in December last year after receiving his TIME magazine Person of the Year honour, Musk compared Dogecoin to Bitcoin, saying that “even though it was created as a silly joke, Dogecoin is better suited for transactions.”
Pointing to the fact DOGE is “slightly inflationary”, the billionaire indicated this is the reason people are encouraged to use it as a coin for transactions rather than a store of value.
SHIB on Robinhood in Feb?
Meanwhile, Shiba Inu holders are still awaiting, and expecting, a listing for SHIB on Robinhood – a zero-commission trading app with more than US$14 million in average daily volume.
The Twitter rumour mill has been suggesting a February listing could be on the cards, with the expectation it’ll likely be a catalyst for another rally for the popular dog-meme coin.
Now down about 63% from its all-time high in October 28, SHIB’s been on quite a roller coaster, like the rest of the crypto market, this week.