Elon Musk has made a surprising announcement during his visit to the Berlin-Brandenburg Gigafactory, revealing that Tesla may start accepting Dogecoin as a payment method for their cars in the future. This declaration came in response to a question from one of the event attendees, who asked if it would be possible to purchase a Tesla with Dogecoin. Musk expressed his support for this idea and stated that it should eventually be implemented. The market reacted strongly to Musk’s statement, leading to a significant increase in the price of Dogecoin. Its value rose from $0.172 to $0.188, representing a 9.3% surge at the time of writing.
Tesla’s acceptance of Dogecoin as payment is not entirely out of the blue. Since 2022, the company has already been accepting Dogecoin as a means of payment for their merchandise. Musk’s decision to support Dogecoin originated from the requests of both Tesla gigafactory employees and visitors to SpaceX, who urged him to consider incorporating Dogecoin as an official payment option. Musk sees Dogecoin as a cryptocurrency that represents the people, contrasting it with Bitcoin, which he believes is favored primarily by the wealthy. He wants to support the cryptocurrency that resonates with the general public.
Additionally, speculation has intensified in the crypto community due to the recent creation of the XPayments account on Musk’s social networking platform, X (formerly known as Twitter). This development has led to speculation about the potential introduction of cryptocurrencies within the X app’s services, which are expected to include in-app payment capabilities by mid-2024. However, it remains uncertain whether these payment services will extend beyond traditional fiat currencies.
Overall, Musk’s suggestion of accepting Dogecoin as a payment method for Tesla cars has generated considerable excitement and speculation within the crypto market. If implemented, it could have significant implications for both Dogecoin’s adoption and Tesla’s customers who are enthusiasts of this particular cryptocurrency.