With the U.S. presidential election taking center stage this week, the price of Dogecoin is rising as billionaire backer Elon Musk continues advocating for former President Donald Trump.
Among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market cap, Dogecoin rose an industry-leading 7.3% Monday to $0.157, according to CoinGecko. Meanwhile, Bitcoin’s price fell 0.5% over the past day to $67,875, as Ethereum dropped 0.3% to $2,430 in the 2024 race’s final moments.
While the Tesla CEO and Twitter (aka X) owner officially endorsed Trump’s White House bid in July, he’s increasingly become involved as a campaign surrogate. Encouraging voters to pick the Republican candidate on Election Day, Musk has spoken at several of Trump’s campaign rallies, while highlighting a Dogecoin-inspired agency amid a flurry of supportive tweets.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) October 29, 2024
Dubbed the so-called Department of Government Efficiency (D.O.G.E.), Musk claimed last week that the agency could reduce government spending by “at least” $2 trillion annually under his leadership. Bearing an acronym that mirrors Dogecoin’s ticker name, the world’s richest man has also expressed a sense of amusement toward the would-be agency’s growing media coverage.
Even though Musk’s D.O.G.E. remarks have brought fresh visibility to the $22 billion meme coin, the asset’s bump in price has also coincided with “renewed appetite for risk assets,” according to Ryze Labs investment analyst Noah Roy. In a statement, he described post-election positioning and the Federal Reserve’s easing campaign as factors driving the asset’s rally.
“As Bitcoin continues to trend up, this ‘risk-on’ environment is spilling over into altcoins like Dogecoin,” he said, adding that it underscores “a wider enthusiasm in the digital assets space.”
The Republican candidate has staged a full-throated endorsement of crypto on the campaign trail, promising to turn America into a crypto superpower while Vice President Kamala Harris has called for a regulatory framework. If Trump is reelected, then Dogecoin’s ticker name could become a part of the Executive Branch under Musk for years to come.
Like most meme coins, Dogecoin’s price has been especially volatile as the 2024 race enters its most pivotal stretch. Following Musk’s government spending talk last week, the asset’s price spiked as high as $0.178, representing its highest price since April.
On Friday, Musk’s would-be agency received support from a former professional football player with ties to Pennsylvania, a key battleground state. Former Pittsburgh Steelers player Antonio Brown said on Twitter (aka X) that he’s “joining the team”—the D.O.G.E. team, that is. On Musk’s platform, Brown’s post was viewed more than 40 million times.
Though Dogecoin has been riding higher on Musk’s involvement in the 2024 race, his comments haven’t always benefited the coin. After cheerleading Dogecoin to astronomical heights in 2021, the asset’s price plummeted following its mention on “Saturday Night Live” when Musk hosted.
After Musk famously conceded on the late night comedy show that Dogecoin is a “hustle,” the asset’s price fell sharply from an all-time high of $0.73. Though Musk said he’s not “actively involved” in crypto earlier this month, Dogecoin’s price could face volatility again on Musk's comments—depending on the election’s outcome.
Edited by Andrew Hayward