Twitter owner Elon Musk has pulled off another eccentric stunt by changing the iconic bluebird logo to that of a dog, which is the logo of the Dogecoin cryptocurrency. The cryptocurrency, which was created as a joke in 2013, has reached a valuation of more than $40 billion, and its value soared by more than 20% after the logo change. Musk posted a screenshot of a conversation with another Twitter user from last year in which the user suggested changing the Twitter logo to Dogecoin, suggesting that this change was planned and not a hack.
The value of Dogecoin has become more volatile since the logo change, going from 7 cents to over 10 cents in a few hours and seeing a 27% increase over the course of a day. However, the surge in the currency’s price began before the logo change, with large movements of money by large investors. This has led to suspicions that there is a speculative movement behind the rise in the cryptocurrency’s value that goes beyond the social network’s logo change.
Musk has been known to shake up the markets with his social media moves and has been sued by Dogecoin investors for creating a pyramid scheme to drive up the price of the coin. Dogecoin, which is based on a meme popular in 2013, has quickly gained a following and reached a valuation of $48 billion in April 2021. Currently, its total capitalization is around $13.6 billion.
Although cryptocurrencies have suffered a year plagued by bankruptcies and crashes, they have received a boost in recent weeks due to the fear generated by the failure of Silicon Valley Bank and the bailout of Credit Suisse. Bitcoin has appreciated by around 70% so far this year and is the most profitable asset so far in 2023.