The Dogecoin price hit an all-time high of US$0.54 today, as DOGE coin traders gear up for the “Dogefather” Elon Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live (SNL) this weekend. The eToro exchange has also listed Dogecoin to allow its 20 million users to get in on the “joke” cryptocurrency.
“You barked and we heard you!” said eToro, in a company announcement that Dogecoin — “everyone’s favorite ‘meme coin'” — is now live on eToro’s trading platform. Dogecoin’s stellar performance and market demand mean the cryptocurrency is not “an asset to be taken lightly,” eToro added.
DOGE has its day
Traders are definitely making some noise in the space as Dogecoin prices have rallied by more than 94% over the last seven days, setting a new all-time high at US$0.54 today. Surging by over 5,000% in 2021, the popular meme-cryptocurrency now has a market cap exceeding US$69 billion and also claimed the number 4 spot in cryptocurrency rankings, behind Bitcoin, Ethereum’s Ether, and Binance Coin.
Dogecoin’s price suffered a recent plunge to below US$0.20, three days after April 20, a day that was meant to be “Doge Day” — when the meme coin’s faithful investors were supposed to, but did not, drive Dogecoin’s price to US$1.
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However, the almighty Shiba Inu of crypto — the canine mascot for Dogecoin — has bounced back after receiving some mainstream coverage from Shark Tank’s Mark Cuban on The Ellen DeGeneres Show and in anticipation of the DOGE community’s favorite son, SpaceX and Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live scheduled for this weekend.
In advance of appearing on SNL, Musk took to Twitter to ask his followers for ”skit ideas” for the popular American comedy show. Dogecoin’s fans wasted no time requesting further promotion of Dogecoin and dubbing Musk, currently the world’s richest man, “The Dogefather.”
Dogecoin has been one of Musk’s favorite topics and fodder on Twitter, and his tweets have consistently moved the markets and caused Dogecoin prices to surge.
Dogecoin traders are expecting that Musk’s appearance on SNL will have similar effects. It would be unlikely, however, that Musk would promote any of his actual businesses as no doubt the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission will be tuning in to the program that will star the market mover on May 8.
Legitimizing the joke coin
Last week, Dallas Mavericks owner and Shark Tank personality Mark Cuban appeared on the “Ellen” show and discussed Dogecoin with host Ellen Degeneres. The billionaire investor said that it may not be the surest investment, but investing in DOGE is “better than a lottery ticket.”
While Cuban admitted to DeGeneres that Dogecoin is still a speculative asset, he later tweeted that he believes the meme coin “can gain SOME value as the utility grows.”
“As long as more companies take doge for products/services, then Doge can be a usable currency because it MAY hold its purchasing value better than a $ in your bank. If interest rates skyrocket or the amount spent falls or stagnates, so will Doge. Yes, a joke is now legit.” Cuban wrote.
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In the same thread, Cuban explained that Dogecoin’s annual inflation rate is set at five billion coins, which means that the cryptocurrency will need to gain some serious utility to continue to grow in value.
While there is no shortage of celebrity Dogecoin supporters, Cuban has worked hard to bring legitimacy to the joke coin.
Cuban recently reported that his basketball team’s store had sold more than 122,000 DOGE worth of merchandise since it first began accepting the coin in March. Cuban has also declared that he would continue to HODL the coin and will “never sell.”
Other businesses have been joining in the Dogecoin craze. On April 13, a popular nightclub in Miami — E11EVEN MIAMI — announced it would accept DOGE as payment for drinks and services.
At the time of publication, Dogecoin prices are hovering about 1 cent below their all-time high, with each DOGE costing US$0.53. Dogecoin prices have risen by almost 37% in just the last 24 hours.
