Business Insider Edition
Authors:
Dogecoin jumped nearly 10% off near-record lows on Sunday after Elon Musk said he would continue to buy the cryptocurrency.
The coin rose about 8.5% in the space of 24 hours after Musk tweeted: “I will keep supporting Dogecoin.”
In response to another user telling Musk to “keep buying it then,” he replied: “I am.”
Musk’s tweets caused the cryptocurrency to spike nearly 10% in the space of an hour to $0.056, helping to compensate for heavy declines over the past month.
Elon Musk (@elonmusk) June 19, 2022
It has aligned with a rebound in other cryptocurrencies as they struggle following significant losses.
After a record 12-day losing streak, Bitcoin was trading at about $18,300 on Sunday after sliding under $20,000 on Saturday, according to CoinDesk. It had been as low as $17,600.
Ethereum fell as low as $880 before rising to trade at about $965, according to CoinDesk.
The rises represent a fraction of the losses given up by cryptos this year, with Bitcoin down 70% and Ethereum down about three quarters this year. Dogecoin is down by two thirds.
Dogecoin was started by its creators as a joke, but has gained fans since Musk began to champion the coin in 2019.
The makers of Dogecoin told Decrypt last year they were working with Musk to make the coin a cheaper, greener alternative to bitcoin.
Its price has never recovered from a Saturday Night Live appearance in May 2021 where Musk jokingly labelled the coin a “hustle,” sending it from record highs of $0.72 to $0.33 in a week. The currency also rallied after news first broke of Musk’s plan to buy Twitter in a $44 billion deal.
Musk was this week sued for nearly $260 billion by a Dogecoin investor for allegedly running a “pyramid scheme”, by pretending the coin has any sort of value to drive up its price.
Authors:
Thanks for signing up for our daily insight on the African economy. We bring you daily editor picks from the best Business Insider news content so you can stay updated on the latest topics and conversations on the African market, leaders, careers and lifestyle. Also join us across all of our other channels – we love to be connected!
© 2022 africa.businessinsider.com
Related Posts
