Perhaps Tesla CEO Elon Musk can have better luck with cryptocurrencies than he can with his cars. The entrepreneur and businessman recently commented that Dogecoin was his favorite cryptocurrency, and the asset is now spiking to unprecedented levels.
For a Joke, Dogecoin Is Getting Big
For those who don’t already know, Dogecoin began as a joke. The meme of a cute little Shiba Inu was enough to capture cryptocurrency enthusiasts’ hearts and turn the idea into an asset that has managed to withstand competition from other major currencies ranging from bitcoin and Ethereum to Litecoin.
Never hesitant to speak his mind about cryptocurrencies, Tesla CEO Elon Musk recently commented that while bitcoin was a “brilliant thing” and that he’d like Ethereum “even if it was a scam,” Dogecoin may be a step above these and other digital currencies that have reached mainstream status.
In a tweet, Musk stated:
Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool.
He later sent out a follow up tweet that read “Dogecoin rulz.”
What Musk probably wasn’t expecting was that he would be “elected” to a new position within the Dogecoin community and crowned the currency’s king and leader. Dogecoin ultimately held a “contest” of sorts, asking users who they would prefer as the currency’s new CEO. The choices came down to Musk, Charlie Lee of Litecoin fame, Vitalik Buterin who invented Ethereum, and Metal Pay founder Marshall Hayner.
Lee and Buterin came up short in the vote, scoring only nine and eight percent respectively. Hayner scored better, garnering 29 percent of the vote, but it was Musk who came out on top. With roughly 54 percent of the vote, Dogecoin submitted a tweet to users, reading:
We have listened to your concerns. We have decided that Dogecoin does need a CEO. Someone who can lead us into the future while maintaining the core values of what we are.
What’s unclear is how serious the contest really is. Will Musk, with everything he’s experiencing, step up and serve as the CEO of a digital currency that was never meant to exist in the first place?
Maybe Dogecoin and Musk Aren’t Meant to Be
Apparently, that seriousness lasted – but only for about five seconds. Musk temporarily changed the title on his Twitter page to “CEO of Dogecoin,” but later altered it to “former CEO.” Enthusiasts probably shouldn’t expect much more at this point.
Musk has some pretty big fish to fry, one being the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The organization recently targeted the Tesla CEO and claimed that he released incorrect information regarding Tesla’s production rates on Twitter. This was an alleged violation of a settlement Musk had reached with the SEC in September of last year, and his position with Tesla is now hanging by a string. The question remains whether he’ll be temporarily forced to step down.
