Dogecoin Soars 30% After Twitter Changes Web Logo To Shiba Inu—As Musk Fights Lawsuit Over Doge Comments

Topline

Dogecoin’s value skyrocketed Monday after Twitter inexplicably changed its web logo to an image of the Shiba Inu dog that adorns the “joke” cryptocurrency, briefly pushing its price to more than $0.10 for the first time in months as Twitter’s owner Elon Musk tries to fend off a lawsuit accusing him of using dogecoin as part of a pyramid scheme.

Dogecoin prices soared Monday after Twitter changed its web logo to resemble the “joke” … [+] cryptocurrency. (Photo by Yuriko Nakao/Getty Images)

Getty Images

Key Facts

Twitter changed its logo on its website at around 1:30 p.m. Eastern time, sending the volatile cryptocurrency’s price soaring more than 30% in just over 30 minutes to more than $0.10—the first time dogecoin has crossed the $0.10 threshold since early December.

Twitter’s logo did not change on its app, while the platform’s official accounts also maintained the hallmark blue “Twitter Bird” branding.

The platform did not respond to a request for comment, while Musk did not immediately provide an explanation for the change.

He did, however, tweet a meme cartoon shortly before 3 p.m. of a Shiba Inu showing an ID photo of the Twitter Bird to a police officer and informing the officer, “That’s an old photo.”

Contra

Dogecoin is still well below its all-time peak of just above $0.70 per coin in May of 2021, but significantly higher than its trading price for the first few years of its existence, when it traded for fractions of a cent.

Key Background

Musk has long called dogecoin his favorite cryptocurrency and his comments in the past have served as catalysts for wild price swings. The billionaire’s dogecoin remarks have also landed him in legal hot water. Musk is a defendant in a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit filed by dogecoin investors accusing him of running a pyramid scheme by using his clout to inflate the price of dogecoin by “more than 36,000% over two years and then letting it crash.” Musk’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss the lawsuit Friday, arguing, “There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency.” Musk has said in the past that he owns dogecoin, but it’s not clear how much.

Forbes Valuation

We estimate Musk’s net worth at $194 billion as of Monday afternoon, mostly due to his stakes in Tesla and SpaceX, making him the world’s second-wealthiest person, behind LVMH’s Bernard Arnault.

Big Number

Around $8.5 billion. That’s how much Musk’s net worth has declined Monday, according to Forbes’ estimates. The drop is largely driven by a more than 6% decline in Tesla’s stock after the company reported disappointing sales figures for the fourth quarter.