Elon Musk asked his Twitter followers if they wanted Tesla to accept Dogecoin as a payment method for the sale of their vehicles. Musk posted the Yes/No poll today morning, to which 3.2 million people have already voted. 77% of these people voted Yes. The poll from Musk also saw Dogecoin rise from 44 cents to 53 cents, before settling at 51 cents.
Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2021
A few days ago, we saw how Dogecoin plummeted after a meteoric rise in the last week. This happened after Elon Musk’s comments about the cryptocurrency when he was hosting the late-night television show Saturday Night Live. When asked about the “meme crypto”, which was created in 2013 as a silly alternative to Bitcoin, Musk replied that it was ‘a hustle’. The comment saw Dogecoin fall 23%, following a best-ever surge. Ironically, it was Musk’s social media support that saw Dogecoin surge 700% in one month.
Elon Musk – The Crypto Proponent
Musk has been one of the biggest supporters of cryptocurrencies in recent times. He has often conveyed his opinions on cryptocurrency through his Twitter account. Many times, this has also impacted the value of the cryptocurrencies in question.
In March this year, Tesla opened a payment gateway for Bitcoin for its customers to use to buy Tesla vehicles. Obviously, it was Musk who led this move, which marks a significant step forward for cryptocurrency’s use in commerce. Till now, virtual currency has rarely been used for actually buying products online. Tesla also bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin earlier this year. This also helped propel its price to a record high.
Just a few days ago, Musk had also mentioned that SpaceX, the aerospace manufacturer that Musk also heads, would accept Dogecoin as payment to launch a lunar mission next year. He also said that they will call the satellite “Doge-1”, and it will be the first crypto and the first meme to go to space.
SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year
– Mission paid for in Doge
– 1st crypto in space
– 1st meme in spaceTo the mooooonnn!!https://t.co/xXfjGZVeUW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2021
Should Cryptocurrency Be Made a Standard Payment Method?
There is a lot of debate with regards to this question. Even when Tesla started accepting Bitcoin, there were some people skeptical about the move. The general consensus is that since cryptocurrencies are a lot more volatile, they can turn out to be risky. Now, the Dogecoin question has its bigger problems.
Dogecoin started off as a joke and has now turned into a social-media-driven force of nature. The stark difference between Bitcoin and Dogecoin is its supply. Bitcoin has a limited supply – there can only be a maximum of 21 million Bitcoins. This helps drive its value as it slowly gains acceptance for commercial transactions. Dogecoin, on the other hand, has an unlimited supply – there are already 100 billion Dogecoins in existence. It is, however, seldom used to make any payments for goods or services.
While Bitcoin is a volatile option when compared to cash, it is still a rather safe bet because of the limited supply. Dogecoin, however, is much more volatile. So, accepting it for usual commercial transactions will be much harder. Now, the question is whether Dogecoin prices rise once again through news such as these.
