Elon Musk replaces Twitter bird with Dogecoin logo, triggers 30% surge in its price

When users check their Twitter timeline, they see text on a blue and white template along with the iconic blue bird, but the Doge meme smiling at them is least expected. But after a series of changes like paid blue ticks and blunders leading to outages, Elon Musk has turned the cryptocurrency logo into Twitter's new face.

The move which comes at a time when Musk faces a lawsuit for tweeting about the memecoin, has sent its value soaring by 30 per cent.

Extracting value from social media frenzy

Dogecoins liquidations have surged to $26 million in 24 hours, and the amount in unsettled future contracts also jumped to $580 million.

The popular dog which appears in memes, can be seen on the top left corner of the computer screen in place of the blue bird.

From 7.7 cents or Rs 6.33, the coin went pasr 10 cents or Rs 8.22, and remains one of the leading meme currency.

Turned a joke into real currency

Modeled after Shiba Inu, Dogecoin was launched as an actual joke on cryptocurrencies in 2013, but gained value with the 2017 surge.

Thought to be backed by Musk, it was listed on the Binance exchange by 2019, while the billionaire openly endorsed it in 2021.

It is this support for a meme that turned into an actual cryptocoin, that landed Musk into legal trouble.

The $258 billion lawsuit, accuses Musk of running a pyramid scheme, where his tweets and media appearance were used to inflate Dogecoin by 36,000 per cent, before letting it fall intentionally.

Musk's lawyers termed the allegations as a work of fiction based on his random, silly tweets, and asked for a dismissal.

Are any of Musk's tweets mere pranks?

Days after that, the Dogecoin logo appeared on Twitter homepages, although some are speculating if its a delayed April Fool's prank.

Past tweets by Musk have also been dugout to suggest that this is about an exchange with another user before he took control of Twitter.

In the past, Musk has been charged with fraud for false claims about taking Tesla public, which were followed by a surge in the stock.

He settled with the securities and exchange commission by paying $20 million in fines, but recently won a case where Tesla shareholders demanded damages.

Although he claimed that his tweets had no impact on Tesla stocks, the social media frenzy triggering a surge for Dogecoin tell a different story.