Tesla Embraces Dogecoin as Payment Option, Following Elon Musk’s Endorsement
Elon Musk’s Tesla has officially announced that it will now accept Dogecoin (DOGE) as a payment method for its products. This move comes after Musk hinted at the integration of Dogecoin as a payment option, causing a 20% surge in DOGE’s price in the past 24 hours. Currently, the cryptocurrency is trading at $0.16.
According to Tesla’s official website, customers can now use Dogecoin to purchase select merchandise from the Tesla shop. The payment option is visible next to eligible products and is indicated by the Dogecoin symbol. It is important to note that payments must be made from a single Dogecoin wallet and cannot be combined from multiple sources. Additionally, once a purchase is made, it cannot be canceled or returned.
This announcement has generated significant excitement within the cryptocurrency community, resulting in a notable increase in DOGE prices. This positive market response highlights the influence that Musk’s endorsements of Dogecoin have on its value. He has frequently expressed support for the cryptocurrency in public statements and on social media.
Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.
– Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 2, 2019
In March, Musk posted a tweet featuring three dogs in green St. Patrick’s Day hats, including a Shiba Inu, which is the Dogecoin mascot. This tweet sparked a frenzy among Dogecoin fans. Musk’s influence over meme coin markets has been evident, as his tweets often lead to immediate price surges. This trend underscores Musk’s significant impact on financial markets through his social media presence.
This is not the first time Musk has had an impact on meme-coin markets, whether intentionally or inadvertently. The creation of the Floki Inu coin is believed to have been influenced by a tweet in 2021 where Musk showcased his new Shiba Inu dog named Floki, named after a character from Vikings. On a related note, Baby DogeCoin was also launched on the same day, further solidifying Musk’s reputation as the mastermind behind joke coins.
While Musk’s tweet brought joy to fans of meme coins, he made significant strides in another technological field. His new company, xAI, fulfilled its promise by making its AI robot, Grok, open-source and accessible to everyone.
This move has a profound impact on the development of transparent and ethical AI. By making Grok open-source, xAI has allowed anyone to see how this massive 314-billion parameter language model is constructed and functions.
Tesla and SpaceX’s Cryptocurrency Holdings
Separately, Arkham, an on-chain intelligence tool, has identified the Bitcoin wallets of Elon Musk’s companies, Tesla and SpaceX, which hold a combined value of over $1 billion. Based on their research, Tesla’s Bitcoin wallets contain over $771 million worth of Bitcoin, while SpaceX’s wallets hold about $555 million.
BREAKING: TESLA & SPACEX ARE NOW ON ARKHAM
Arkham has identified the BTC holdings of Tesla and SpaceX. We are the first to publicly identify these holdings on chain.
We believe Tesla currently holds 11.51K BTC ($780M) across 68 addresses, and SpaceX holds 8.29K BTC ($560M)— pic.twitter.com/vwoEJ0h0dS
— Arkham (@ArkhamIntel) March 7, 2024
In May 2022, during a sharp decline in the price of Bitcoin, both Tesla and SpaceX sold a significant portion of their Bitcoin holdings. While SpaceX incurred losses from these sales, Tesla managed to offset the losses with substantial profits. However, SpaceX’s Bitcoin situation improved in November 2023, coinciding with the current Bitcoin bull run. According to Arkham’s findings, the price of Bitcoin has nearly doubled since then, resulting in a $132 million return on SpaceX’s BTC assets. On the other hand, Tesla has made $455 million in Bitcoin.
If these findings are accurate, it suggests that Tesla and SpaceX’s Bitcoin holdings were larger than previously estimated. Analysts had previously believed that Tesla owned approximately 9,720 BTC, with no data available on SpaceX’s investments. Arkham’s research reveals that Tesla holds over 11,509 BTC, indicating a significant Bitcoin position for the company.