With Trump reclaiming the White House, tech billionaire Elon Musk will almost certainly play a pivotal role in this incoming administration. As the cryptocurrency market surged following the news, one cryptocurrency that benefited the most was Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, Dogecoin, which surged 24% as the Republican candidate edged closer to victory.
At his victory celebration in West Palm Beach, Trump spent four minutes of his 26-minute speech praising Musk, calling him a “special guy” and a “new star.”
“He’s an absolute genius. We have to protect our geniuses. We don’t have a lot of them,” President-elect Trump said.
The Shiba Ina-themed memecoin — often associated with Musk — surged in the early morning hours of Wednesday, trading at $0.20, the highest level since April. It settled at $0.19 on Thursday, a huge jump from a year ago when Dogecoin was falling to $0.07.
Having been an outspoken supporter of the Republican nominee, donating more than $118 million to his campaign and appearing at several of his rallies wearing a dark “MAGA” hat, Musk will be one of Trump’s staunchest allies.
Dogecoin enthusiasts view Trump’s win as a big win for the memecoin, because it means there will likely be more news about Musk and his proposed Department of Government Efficiency, the abbreviation of which DOGE is an obvious nod to the coin.
Trump He said During the campaign, he announced that he would put Musk in charge of the proposed new DOGE, which would supposedly oversee government spending and eliminate “fraud and improper payments.”
When asked about the oath at a campaign event in Pennsylvania, Musk responded, “Yes, DOGE,” which led to a 15% increase.
Dogecoin rose 157% last year after Musk threw his wealth and influence behind Trump following his assassination attempt in July. In the days following Musk support After Trump on X, Dogecoin rose 24%.
Musk has a long history of influencing the price of Dogecoin. In May 2021, after multiple endorsements from the billionaire including an SNL skit where he called himself “Daddy,” the coin’s market capitalization reached an all-time high of $88 billion.
His promotion of the coin led to a class-action lawsuit in which he was accused of a pump-and-dump scheme to inflate the price of memecoin. However, the lawsuit was dismissed in August.
Dogecoin is currently the eighth largest cryptocurrency with a market cap of over $28 billion.