Tesla accepting Dogecoin: Elon Musk comments explained and why DOGE cryptocurrency market price soared

Dogecoin enjoyed a 25% boost in its crypto market value, after Tesla CEO Elon Musk made comment on the emerging cryptocurrency.

Formed as a joke in 2012, Dogecoin - which is listed under the tag DOGE - has soared in popularity during 2021, experiencing new highs and lows.

Its price fluctuations are a perfect example of how volatile the crypto-universe can be with eye watering changes in direction recorded within the same day.

Today is another page in the crypto chronicles...

What did Elon Musk say about Dogecoin?

Elon Musk sent the crypto world into overdrive when he published a Twitter post stating Tesla, the electric car company where he is CEO, will accept Dogecoin as payment.

At 10.34am on 14 December, Musk posted on the social media platform: "Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge [crypto market tag for Dogecoin] & see how it goes".

The Tweet was warmly welcomed by many, with thousands of Retweets and Likes, and sparked a surge in the market price of Dogecoin for around 24 hours before dropping again.

The market price of one Dogecoin token spiked at 17p, rising from 12p, and is currently, at the time of writing (12.30pm, 15 December), priced at 14p per coin.

Is Tesla accepting Dogecoin as payment?

For all it appears, yes.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk has stated the electric car company will be accepting Dogecoin as payment for some merchandise, with the door seemingly ajar for other products.

Musk has flirted with Dogecoin in the past, posting comments and memes on Twitter, but has always maintained that he is a fan of the crypto coin, alongside other public figures.

Musician Snoop Dogg and Kiss lead singer Gene Simmons have both mentioned DOGE.

Can I purchase Dogecoin?

You can purchase Dogecoin via Coinbase, here.

Cryptocurrency continues to be a volatile market, with coins changing value rapidly. Invest with caution.

Where does Tesla stand with Bitcoin?

Earlier in 2021, Tesla said it was going to accept Bitcoin as payment for its products after investing £1.1 billion in the crypto.

Such a move saw a big surge in crypto market prices of digital tokens and gave cryptocurrency’s credentials as a viable use of payment a big shot in the arm.

Weeks later, however, CEO Elon Musk then announced the company would no longer be accepting Bitcoin as payment due to the crypto’s controversial mining process.

It was reported that Bitcoin mining - the equivalent of pumping more currency into circulation - had a large carbon footprint, surpassing the annual outage of some developed countries.

A rise in eco-friendly cryptocurrencies followed with the likes of XRP and Cardano.

How has the cryptocurrency market responded?

Whenever Elon Musk mentions Dogecoin, either on Twitter, in an interview, or even as part of a skit on US television, the market price soares.

It was no different this week, following the Tesla announcement, but it has since dipped back down, and is someway off the highs of 53p per coin in May 2021.

Other leading cryptos, Bitcoin, Ethereum, Binance Coin, Solana, Cardano, XRP, Polkadot, among others, all saw their prices spike, according to Coinbase.

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