DOGE Crypto News: Dogecoin Prices Surge on Tesla Merch Catalyst

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The price of Dogecoin (CCC:DOGE-USD) is up more than 10% today after Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO Elon Musk tweeted that customers can now purchase Tesla merchandise with the DOGE crypto.

Dogecoin Cryptocurrency

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Fans were quick to react to the news. Dogecoin prices briefly popped above 20 cents this morning, although they have ultimately cooled off. As of this writing, DOGE is up 12% to just over 19 cents.

What Happened With the DOGE Crypto?

In a series of tweets, Elon Musk announced that Tesla is now accepting Dogecoin for payment for select Tesla products. For example, a whistle shaped like Tesla’s Cybertruck costs 300 Dogecoin. At current prices, that comes out to about $59. A commemorative belt buckle to celebrate Tesla’s Gigafactory in Texas can be bought for 835 DOGE, or about $164.

This is not the first time that social media posts from Elon Musk have moved the price of Dogecoin. The Tesla head honcho has long been a high-profile Dogecoin supporter, and his tweets often move the price of the cryptocurrency. In the past, Musk has referred to himself as the “Dogefather” and publicly supported a campaign to push the price of DOGE to $1, an effort that failed last spring.

Why It Matters

The big knock on Dogecoin is that it has no daily utility. Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer admit that they created Dogecoin simply as a joke back in 2013. The cryptocurrency features the face of a  Shiba Inu dog, and that is it. However, fans of DOGE are holding out hope that the digital coin will find a greater purpose.

That Tesla, the world’s leading electric vehicle manufacturer, is now accepting DOGE as a legitimate form of payment is a major development that helps to legitimize Dogecoin. Over the past year. Dogecoin has swung from less than a penny to as high as 73 cents. At its current price of 19 cents, DOGE is up nearly 2,000% in the past 12 months.

What’s Next for Dogecoin

If Tesla continues to accept Dogecoin for merchandise and expands the items that people can buy with the cryptocurrency, it will be great news for DOGE. But keep in mind that Elon Musk has a checkered relationship with Dogecoin… and cryptocurrencies in general. During an appearance on Saturday Night Live last year, Musk called his championing of Dogecoin a “hustle,” and he previously announced that customers could buy Tesla vehicles using Bitcoin (CCC:BTC-USD) before changing his mind.

As always, Musk remains a mercurial figure in the worlds of business and crypto.

On the date of publication, Joel Baglole did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

Joel Baglole has been a business journalist for 20 years. He spent five years as a staff reporter at The Wall Street Journal, and has also written for The Washington Post and Toronto Star newspapers, as well as financial websites such as The Motley Fool and Investopedia.


Article printed from InvestorPlace Media, https://investorplace.com/2022/01/doge-crypto-news-dogecoin-prices-surge-on-tesla-merch-catalyst/.

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