Elon Musk and Donald Trump’s nasty feud has had some unintended consequences for the meme coin that inspired the Department of Government Efficiency.
As CNBC reports, Dogecoin fell 10 percent on Thursday, the day that the Musk and Trump spat spilled over onto social media, and was down 22 percent week-over-week at its lowest point last night, when it was worth less than 17 cents per token (don’t gasp too hard, but it’s now soared back up to 18 cents.)
Given that it’s a meme coin, Doge has never been worth all that much to begin with. At its absolute peak in 2021, the coin traded just under 75 cents thanks to Musk’s endorsement — and despite regular peaks and valleys, it’s never again surpassed that all-time high.
Despite its near-worthlessness, Dogecoin has been a useful metric for tracking the way Musk affects market. As CNBC notes, the meme coin spiked 15 percent in a day when Tesla began accepting it for merchandise in 2022, and jumped 35 percent later that same year when Musk bought Twitter.
Just as Doge giveth, Doge seems to taketh away. The unelected billionaire has entirely squandered the gains he garnered for the meme coin when riding on Trump’s coattails, first with the announcement of the agency’s creation and again when its official website was launched just after the president’s inauguration.
As Cointelegraph reports, the coin could be poised to slip even further. Dogecoin’s three-week Trump slump suggests, per the site’s analysis, that it could fall to as little as six cents per coin if its bearish streak continues. Should it continue to fall, a massive selloff event may occur as itchy investors seek to rid themselves of the tarnished token.
Over on the everything app, Doge bros are, as usual, acting absolutely bonkers about the coin’s chances of survival.
“Looks like yesterday was just another bear trap for Dogecoin,” one such investor tweeted alongside a chart showing projected “euphoric” highs that almost certainly will not be attained. “Let’s go!”
In another unrealistic prognostication that borders on tragic, one account shared a graphic explaining that if investors “hold together, nobody will fall.”
“I’ll keep reposting till we hit the Dollar,” the delulu poster exclaimed.
In Washington, the fiery feud between Musk and Trump has shaken the status quo — but for crypto types, it’s just another weekend.
More on meme coins: You’ll Never Guess What Happened to Trump’s Meme Coin After He Announced His Tariffs