Elon Musk’s rocket company SpaceX will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” in Q1 2022. It will mark the first-ever commercial Lunar payload paid for entirely in “meme coin” Dogecoin (DOGE).
The mission, announced by Canadian Geometric Energy Corporation on Sunday, will see a 40-kilogram cube satellite flying to the Moon as payload on one of SpaceX's Falcon 9 rockets.
"This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce," SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero said in a statement.
By day, Elon Musk sends rockets to space. But on Saturday Night Live, the Tesla and SpaceX CEO sent Dogecoin spiralling back to Earth after his appearance shaved 30% off the coin's price overnight. Dogecoin has remained trapped in the mire all day today, sinking as low as $0.43.
Yesterday evening, Musk appeared on SNL with a couple of much-anticipated Dogecoin gags up his sleeve. Just four minutes into the show, Dogecoin began to plummet from a height of 69 cents. It bottomed out at 49 cents an...
While Geometric Energy did not specify the exact amount of Dogecoin involved in the transaction with SpaceX, the firm’s CEO Samuel Reid said that “having officially transacted with DOGE for a deal of this magnitude,” the two companies “have solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space sector.”
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk commented on the announcement on Twitter, stating that Dogecoin is becoming the first crypto and first meme in space.
SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year
– Mission paid for in Doge – 1st crypto in space – 1st meme in space
Earlier this year, on April Fool’s Day, Musk tweeted that “SpaceX is going to put a literal dogecoin on the literal moon.” At the time, it was considered to be one of his many jokes about the cryptocurrency.
Dogecoin price plummets following SNL
The announcement comes in the wake of Musk’s appearance on comedy show Saturday Night Live, during which he described Dogecoin as "an unstoppable financial vehicle that's going to take over the world."
In fact, Musk’s appearance on SNL presaged a Dogecoin crash, with the cryptocurrency plummeting from its previous high of $0.74 to as low as 0.47.
Currently, Dogecoin is changing hands in the region of 0.52, up 4.2% in the last 24 hours. Despite its price slipping, however, Dogecoin has soared by more than 800% over the last month alone, becoming the fifth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Dubai's government will accept cryptocurrencies for payments, the finance department said on Monday.
After signing a memorandum of understanding with crypto exchange Crypto.com, Dubai Finance, which manages the city's budget, said it would accept digital assets for government fees. It did not specify which digital coins and tokens it plans to accept.
Dubai is considered a crypto-friendly city; the emirate last week hosted the Token2049 conference, and a number of digital asset companies are bas...
Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong has revealed that the crypto exchange considered putting 80% of its balance sheet into Bitcoin—but decided against it over fears it could "kill the company."
During a question-and-answer session with customers, executives were asked whether they missed an opportunity to start amassing BTC sooner, given the company had an eight-year headstart on software firm Strategy.
We’re live with @brian_armstrong, @GregTusar, and Alesia Haas answering community questions followi...
BitGo has secured regulatory approval from Germany's Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, enabling the U.S. crypto custody provider to expand its services across the European Union's member countries.
The license positions BitGo as one of the first American digital asset firms to gain recognition under the EU's Markets in Crypto-Assets (MiCA) framework, a unified regulatory system, rolling out crypto custody services for its institutional clients across the bloc this year.
BitGo has...