A Tesla for a Dogecoin?: Musk asks Twitter followers

Dogecoin could soon be joining Bitcoin among the cryptos that can be used to buy a Tesla after the company’s billionaire boss and serial crypto market mover Elon Musk posted a Twitter poll to gauge interest in the concept. Do you want Tesla to accept Doge? — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 11, 2021 As of lunchtime on Tuesday, two hours after the poll went live, users appeared to be receptive to the idea, with around 77% of the 1.69mln voters responding in the affirmative. READ: Dogecoin heads to the moon, literally  While the reliability of a Twitter poll is understandably questionable, the idea of the electric car maker accepting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency would be a huge boon for its validation as a genuine store of value, despite being founded as something of a joke back in 2014. The concept of Dogecoin serving as more than a speculative investment also arose on Monday after Canadian firm Geometric Energy Corp (GEC) said it will use the crypto to pay for the DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon, which is scheduled to launch a 40-kilogram satellite as part of a lunar payload mission aboard SpaceX’s Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of next year. Such a move could also help pull Dogecoin out of its recent slump, with the crypto reaching an all-time high on Saturday morning before declining sharply over the weekend. The cause of the downturn may also lie with Musk himself after the billionaire branded referred to Dogecoin as a “hustle” in an appearance on US sketch comedy show Saturday Night Live. The price of Dogecoin was down 0.6% in the last 24 hours at US$0.5 in lunchtime trading on Tuesday, although it is still up around 9,900% so far this year.