Dogecoin Surges After Elon Musk Joins Trump Administration

Dogecoin (DOGE) is experiencing a significant rise this weekend, reaching its highest value in over a week as rumors about Elon Musk possibly adding payment features to his X platform, formerly known as Twitter, resurface.

In the last 30 days, Dogecoin has increased by 189%, peaking at around $0.43 last week. Originally created in 2013 as a playful tribute to the doge meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog, Dogecoin was a joke designed to mock the rapid emergence of alternative cryptocurrencies after Bitcoin (BTC) gained popularity. Currently, Dogecoin is the largest meme coin by market capitalization.

Musk Chimes In

The Tesla CEO shared a screenshot of Joe Rogan and his profile early Friday, where a dollar sign appeared next to the profile picture, sparking speculation about a new feature on the horizon. When an X user pointed out the unfamiliar widget, currently absent for most users, Musk simply replied by saying it was true.

Nima Owji, an independent app researcher, suggested that the dollar sign button could be linked to X Payments, allowing users to send money. DOGE has also risen 4% in the past 24 hours, reaching $0.40, briefly exceeding $0.41 earlier and marking its highest price in over a week. Over the past week, the meme coin has surged by 87% following a strong rally driven by both Musk and Bitcoin reaching new all-time highs.

Gaining Traction

Despite Bitcoin aiming to break the $100,000 per coin mark, various altcoins, including Dogecoin, are gaining traction. DOGE reached $0.4126 early Friday, its highest level in over a week, with a daily gain of nearly 7% and an increase of almost 15% for the week.

The value of the meme coin skyrocketed after Elon Musk began promoting it on Twitter in 2020 through memes, leading to a cult following. It hit an all-time high of $0.73 in 2021 before experiencing a significant decline. The coin has recently gained momentum again, fueled by Musk and his involvement in a new government initiative named the Department of Governmental Efficiency (DOGE).

Musk, who acquired Twitter in 2022 and rebranded it as X, has expressed enthusiasm about integrating payment features into the platform. While crypto was initially excluded in early plans, documents earlier this year revealed that a payment feature was still being developed, though it did not involve cryptocurrency, at least not initially.