Dogecoin price sky rockets as yet another exchange offers crypto ahead of Elon Musk’s SNL appearance
Gemini joins eToro by offering cryptocurrency, pushing value above $0.50
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Dogecoin has more than doubled in price in less than a week after two major trading platforms made the cryptocurrency available to their customers.
Popular exchange Gemini announced support for the meme-inspired cryptocurrency on Wednesday, less than a day after eToro added it to its own online trading app.
>> Follow The Independent’s live coverage of the crypto market <<
The price of dogecoin hit a peak of $0.58, according to CoinMarketCap, and was trading just a couple of cents off that at the time of writing.
The cryptocurrency’s latest price surge was initially spurred on by Elon Musk announcing that he would host Saturday Night Live on 8 May with the words “The Dogefather”.
The SpaceX and Tesla CEO has frequently tweeted his support for the cryptocurrency in 2021, claiming that he does so because he “likes dogs and memes”.
Each of his tweets have caused the price to spike, and dogecoin investors are hoping its value will climb even higher if he mentions it on SNL.
Dogecoin’s huge gains – it was worth just two-tenths of a cent this time last year – means it is now among the top four most-valuable cryptocurrencies in the world, overtaking ripple (XRP) on Wednesday.
Despite this, many major platforms have been reluctant to add support for dogecoin, as it is seen as a joke cryptocurrency.
Software engineer Jackson Palmer, who co-founded dogecoin in 2013, previously described it as a “tongue-in-cheek” cryptocurrency aimed at poking fun of the broader crypto market.
The price gains have forced exchanges to add it to their roster, with Gemini already offering more than 40 other cryptocurrencies before adding dogecoin.
“Dogecoin is no joke,” said Tyler Winklevoss, CEO of Gemini and one half of the so-called Winklevii twins who have made billions of dollars through investing in bitcoin.
“Dogecoin is the people’s money. It’s organic, irreverent, and fun. It’s not forced on us by a government or some other central authority, it’s chosen by us, for us – by the people, for the people.
“Dogecoin continues bitcoin’s tradition of giving the control of money back to the people. Yes, it’s a meme coin, but all money is a meme. And all money is both an idea and a matter of faith or belief in it... Dogecoin is the perfect vehicle to lay bare this fundamental truth about money. And in serving this purpose, DOGE has a legitimate claim to some value. It reflects the true history and nature of money.”
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