Elon Musk continues to showcase the influence he – whether purposely or inadvertently – continues to wield with a mere tweet or comment.
The Tesla and SpaceX business magnate was the guest host on the latest episode of US comedy sketch series Saturday Night Live (SNL), where a quip focused on cryptocurrency led to a big price drop for the once-meme-now-major-cryptocurrency that is Dogecoin.
Musk, responding to “What is Dogecoin?”, called it “the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.”
A twist followed.
“So, it’s a hustle?” asked SNL cast member and comedian Michael Che. “Yeah,” Musk laughed. “It’s a hustle.”
That was enough to see Dogecoin dip to as low as $0.416 – a 36 per cent drop, from around the $0.65 it was valuing at before the show began airing. There was a bit of a recovery on Sunday, going up to around $0.49, although remaining well under the $0.68 investors had driven it to prior to the weekend.
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Sure, Musk may have it called it a “hustle”, but it appears he’s only too happy to hustle alongside it.
The CEO has long sparked controversy for his outspoken comments relating to cryptocurrency, with Musk’s opinions proving to hold sway over crypto value.
To the moon! … with caution
“SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year,” Musk tweeted out to his 53 million-plus followers. “Mission paid for in Doge. 1st crypto in space. 1st meme in space.”
The tweet refers to the news that Dogecoin is officially to be accepted as payment option by American aerospace manufacturer and space transportation services company SpaceX, of which Musk is founder, CEO, CTO, and chief designer.
“Having officially transacted with DOGE for a deal of this magnitude, Geometric Energy Corporation and SpaceX have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector,” Geometric Energy Chief Executive Officer Samuel Reid said in a statement.
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce,” said SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero. “We’re excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon!”
Through all the crypto push and quips, Musk is still telling people to “please invest with caution.” On May 7th, Musk shared a February 2021 TMZ street interview where he cautioned to not go all in on digital currency.
“I think people should not invest their life savings in cryptocurrency, to be clear. I think that’s unwise.”
On the other hand…
“There’s a good chance that crypto is the future currency of earth. And then it’s like, ‘Well, which one is it going to be?’ Maybe it’ll be multiple.
“But it should be considered speculation at this point.”
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