Elon Musk may have taken DogeCoin (DOGE) for a bit of a ride this weekend. Reuters reported that the asset lost a third of its price on Sunday after the billionaire Founder of Tesla called DOGE a 'hustle' during his appearance as the host of Saturday Night Live (SNL).
Indeed, the price of DOGE peaked at $0.72 on Saturday, May 8th. However, the coin fell as low as $0.43 on Sunday, May 9th. At press time, the price had recovered to $0.53.
Musk’s appearance on SNL was hotly anticipated by the DogeCoin community as a possible opportunity to bring more attention to DOGE, and thereby increasing its price.
When Musk was asked “what is DogeCoin?”, he initially replied with “It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.” However, when SNL cast member, Michael Che quipped, “So, it’s a hustle?”, Musk answered, “Yeah, it’s a hustle,” with a laugh.
When It Comes to Cash, “Only a Fool Wouldn’t Look Elsewhere.”
Musk's love affair with DogeCoin appears to have begun toward the end of 2020 when the billionaire began tweeting and speaking about Dogecoin regularly. Many of his tweets have been somewhat cryptic; one simply contained the word “Doge.” Other tweets lauded DOGE as “the people’s crypto.”
But beyond DOGE, Musk has expressed a lack of faith in cash, pointing out that cash has real negative interest rates: “Only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere,” he said in February.
However, Musk appeared to take a cautionary tone for perhaps the first time: “Cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!” he tweeted, along with a video clip in which he said, “it should be considered speculation at this point.”
Still, Musk has said that cryptocurrency does have a “good chance” of becoming “the future currency of the Earth.”
Even with this newfound cautionary note, Musk has attracted criticism from analysts. James Angel, Associate Professor at Georgetown University’s McDonough School of Business, told Reuters that: “I think [Musk is] having a lot of fun ... He can say anything he wants about dogecoin or cryptos fully aware that just him saying something moves the price.”
“Anyone who wants to play the Elon Musk game should be prepared to lose all their money.”
