Dogecoin Holders Thank Elon Musk for the Pump, Now Waiting for the Dump

Twitter added the Dogecoin logo to the platform this week in a puzzling rebound from an embarrassing weekend that saw owner Elon Musk blow past his deadline to remove legacy blue checks as users show little interest in paying for verification. 

For days, the familiar cartoon shiba inu has greeted users when loading the site, and it appears on the top right corner of the platform’s interface. Holders of Dogecoin were ecstatic as the price of the cryptocurrency token immediately soared nearly 30 percent, from $0.077 to over 1 cent.

“Just bought all back in after the dip. Nothing too risky. Loads of free doge 👍,” one user wrote in the Dogecoin community Discord’s trading channel on Monday. “Like a video game. Thanks Elon!”

“In Elon we trust,” another user replied, followed by someone posting a meme with the text “Pump it up.” 

It’s an interesting move from Musk, who is currently fighting a $238 billion lawsuit from Dogecoin investors who accuse him of using his platform “to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement" by pumping the coin’s price with hype and then letting it fall.

Musk has a long and complicated history with Dogecoin. He made numerous tweets supporting Dogecoin as its price rose to its peak of around $0.70 in 2021. Tesla began accepting Dogecoin for some accessories, and Musk revealed that he personally held some Dogecoin and Tesla too. But nothing gold—as gold as a shiba inu’s fur—can last. 

Musk called Dogecoin “a hustle” in a Saturday Night Live appearance, the coin’s price tanked, and investors sued him for allegedly pumping the coin’s price even though he knew it had no real value. Last year, Tesla revealed that the company had sold most of its Bitcoin holdings, but kept its Dogecoin. 

As excited as people in the Dogecoin Discord server were, however, they were also anxious about a dump following the pump—when investors sell their coins after a sudden price rise to cash in. “Might be [dead] after it dumps though. Elon tweets are nothing to bank on. It’s like calling a cat you never met,” one user said. 

“I think we dumping back or at least to .083’s… unless Elon pulls more tricks out the hat,” one user said, followed by another user speculating that “there has to be more in store.” One person said that they believed Twitter would be forced to accept Dogecoin now or else be subject to Securities and Exchange Commission enforcement. 

Days before Twitter implemented the Dogecoin logo, Reuters reported, Musk’s legal team filed to have the case dismissed on the grounds that shitposting is not illegal.

"There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion," Musk's lawyers argued, according to Reuters. "This court should put a stop to plaintiffs' fantasy and dismiss the complaint."

On Thursday, Dogecoin’s price had slumped to $0.09 and holders in Discord appeared to be waiting for Musk’s next move. “Question is, when will he pull it and what will he say about it,” said one investor. “And if he doesn’t say anything, but just removes the logo, will everyone get out at that point?”