TOPLINE

A textless meme of a dog in a T-shirt tweeted by the world’s wealthiest man Elon Musk sent one of the world’s largest cryptocurrencies up 12% Tuesday, the latest instance of tongue-in-cheek social media activity causing big money moves.

KEY FACTS

Musk’s tweet of a Shiba Inu adorned with a Twitter logo instantly went viral, picking up nearly 600,000 likes.

The image is an apparent reference to reports Musk will heavily incorporate dogecoin, a coin with a Shiba Inu’s face on it, on Twitter.

Dogecoin rose to a six-month high of $0.14, and is up a whopping 131% over the last month, according to Forbes’ tracker of digital assets.

Also gaining was the cryptocurrency Shiba Inu, which rose 8% Tuesday.

Outside from the canine tokens, the crypto market broadly rose, with bitcoin and Ethereum gaining 2.6% and 5%, respectively.

BIG NUMBER

$10.2 billion. That’s how much in market capitalization dogecoin has gained since October 4, the day Musk’s intent to close the Twitter deal went public. Its $19.1 billion market cap is roughly the same as Hewlett Packard.

KEY BACKGROUND

Dogecoin briefly reached a market cap of about $70 billion last year when it peaked near $0.70 before quickly losing its luster, falling to as low as $0.05. Much of dogecoin’s surge came as Musk relentlessly touted the coin. This year has been bleak for crypto, with bitcoin down 57% year-to-date, compared to a 19% loss for the S&P 500. Doge’s rise and fall mirrored that of several other meme assets, including stocks like AMC, Bed Bath & Beyond and GameStop. 

TANGENT

The potential dogecoin adoption is one of many changes to his new social network teased by Musk on his Twitter account, with the billionaire also putting out feelers for the return of the short-form video service Vine and a monthly fee for users to retain their verified badges.

FURTHER READING

Crypto Markets Gain Nearly $100 Billion After Elon Musk’s Twitter Deal Boosts Dogecoin (Forbes)

By Derek Saul, Forbes Staff