[FLOKI](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/floki-inu/), the novel token of the Floki ecosystem, has spiked by approximately 390% since the start of 2023, data from cryptocurrency price tracker CoinMarketCap showed.

The cryptocurrency has benefited extensively from the [crypto](/news/article/uk-crypto-atm-raided-by-financial-regulator) market's rebound this year after the entire sector plunged to new lows on the back of a bearish outlook in 2022 that saw many firms reduce their headcounts. 

While some analysts have attributed the price spike to industry-wide gains, the increase in the [token's](/news/article/robotera-metaverse-token-presale) value is largely down to accomplishing milestones and setting up new ones.

## Floki price jumping as a result of the roadmap 

On 21 February, the crypto company published its [roadmap](https://realflokiinu.medium.com/floki-2023-roadmap-8532b29ad63b) for the year. While the first phase, which featured the launch of the project’s shop, a partnership with Binance Pay, an upgrade of the Valhalla Website, the development of a Chinese Whitepaper, and a partnership with Pyth Network has been completed, other developments are still in progress.

These milestones include the launch of the crypto asset on the OKX chain (which also houses the well-known cryptocurrency exchange OKX), integration with decentralized finance (DeFi) lending and borrowing protocols, the first major upgrade of Floki Finance, and the first phase of staking.

The second phase of staking, the redesign of Floki Finance, and the release of the Debit Card will come off in phase two, while Floki Finance Project TL and University of Floki (phase three) and Valhalla Mainnet launch, Valhalla Chinese Version, and the project's Mystery Project will follow accordingly in phase four.

In crypto, prices are normally driven by the adoption of a cryptocurrency by a mainstream company as a payment method, the addition of a coin or token by a major exchange, and the provision of staking services, which brings passive income to traders and investors.

Since the digital currency has triggered two of the three price drivers (staking and exchange listing), it explains why it reached a yearly high of $0.00006684 on 16 February. 

## FLOKI price gains dwarf Shiba Inu and Dogecoin

While Dogecoin (DOGE) and Shiba Inu ([SHIB](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/shiba-inu/historical-data/)) continue to dominate the meme-inspired digital currency sector of the crypto economy, their gains are smaller than the coin named after [Elon Musk’s](/news/article/elon-musk-twitter-dogecoin) pet. 

While FLOKI holders have seen their portfolios rise more than three-fold, (SHIB) has increased by 8% while [DOGE](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/) has gone up by 20% since 1 January.


price chart in green with the floki inu logo of a dog and helmet on

Floki Price Jumps More than 300% Year-to-Date 

After the euphoria of 2021, last year proved to be a massive disappointment, with many new to crypto losing large amounts of money. One sector that felt the chill of the crypto winter was NFTs - from the highs of 2021, the NFT market cap currently stands at $10.5 billion, leaving many to ask – are NFTs dead?

As a quick recap, an NFT is a digital certificate of authenticity that can represent ownership. However, for now, most NFTs are created to represent digital media, be it artwork, music, or 3D images. In the future, NFT use can extend to contracts, ticketing  - in fact, any real-world product or event where digital ownership is needed.

## Reasons to be optimistic

As I mentioned above, the value of the NFT market today is some $10.5 billion and [counts for 1.03% of the total cryptocurrency market cap](https://coinmarketcap.com/view/collectibles-nfts/). A large sum by anyone's reckoning.

Some people see the picture rather differently. They believe that the end is near due to the massive decrease in NFT trades from the highs of January 2022.

So other than market value, what are the reasons for us to feel optimistic about the future of the NFT? There are many, but let's take a look at five of the strongest reasons to be cheerful ~
Inflation caused worldwide markets to dump, not just NFT
The fallout from two years of the COVID-19 pandemic was almost inevitable. The response to unlimited currency printing resulted in a real-time fall in the value of goods and services, aka inflation. 

This insidious metric has risen in every corner of society, from stocks to commodities to everyday goods, resulting in higher prices across the board. However, all is not lost. The US and the UK have recently recorded drops in the inflation rate, with further falls expected as we progress through the year. This is encouraging for anyone looking to invest a little spare cash into crypto and NFTs.

## Many major brands looking to launch NFT

Many mainstream brands such as Budweiser, Gucci, and Nike have launched or are planning to launch NFT collections soon. NFTs and the Metaverse go hand in hand - Nike fans will be able to purchase a pair of digital sneakers for $50. Nike's platform is built on Polygon. To interact, users simply have to set up a digital wallet and load it with either ETH or MATIC crypto.

## Bored Apes still trending – partnership

Despite the massive drop off from the highs of 2021, one of the most talked about NFT collections – the Bored Ape Yacht Club – is still proving popular with its legions of fans. At its height, one BAYC digital artwork sold for $3.6 million, with another going for $1.7 million. Recent data from Google has shown that searches for BAYC are increasing. In what is certainly a nod to the future of the NFT, [a self-described BAYC whale just parted with $900k to buy 69 DeGods NFTs](/news/article/bored-ape-whale-buys-69-degods-nft).

## Elon Musk and Twitter

Unless you live under a rock, you will be aware that famed entrepreneur Elon Musk finally put pen to paper and purchased the social media platform Twitter. Musk makes no secret of his love of all things crypto, especially given his close association with DOGE coin. If, as many suspect, he makes DOGE the native currency of Twitter, this is expected to provide a huge boost for the legitimacy and, indeed, use of crypto. In perhaps a sign of things to come, NFT Twitter fans can now display their digital art as part of their profile picture.

## Continued evolution

As mentioned above, NFTs are closely related to the Metaverse in the form of digital items users can create, trade, and use on their whim. The future of gaming is virtual, as what we know of as video games changes at a rapid pace. The rise of the mobile Play to Earn gaming concept has seen significant growth in the Far East, allowing players to create and trade their precious digital items. While this has not entirely caught on in the West, many industry experts believe an integrated commercial environment that allows players to trade and earn via NFTs is not from being a common reality.

## The future

There are many reasons to be upbeat about the future of the NFT.

However, as I mentioned above, apart from digital artwork, there is a real need for NFT use cases in wider society. This is mainly due to their ability to determine a unique and non-transferable (non-fungible) good or service. It must be remembered that no NFT can be traded on a like-for-like basis (unlike traditional crypto). This ability to uniquely identify without being copied, substituted, or sub-divided brings value to an NFT.

The concept behind the NFT is relatively simple. This digital certificate then exists on a blockchain which can be accessed and viewed by anyone, thus proving ownership, digital or otherwise. 

NFTs have the ability to revolutionise a wide variety of traditional industries radically, [none more so than real estate](https://butterflymx.com/blog/nft-real-estate/). As we are all probably aware, the house purchase process in the UK is far from ideal, with endless documentation and last-minute gazumping a common reality.

Now imagine a future where buyers and sellers agree a price and use a third-party escrow account to manage the purchase. Once complete, the deeds to the property are transferred in the form of an NFT, which exists on an immutable blockchain. This is a great example of how distributed ledger technology will directly impact the fabric of our future lives. With estimates of a $230 billion market valuation by 2030, there has never been a better time to consider investing in NFTs.


Are NFTs dead? An Investigation

Dogelon Mars is back in the news. With a current market capitalization of $183.38 million and a circulating supply of 549,040 billion tokens, [Dogelon Mars](https://twitter.com/dogelonmars?lang=en) is ranked number 152 in the list of cryptos by market cap. It is one of the Dogecoin-themed meme coins.

Dogecoin received some promotion from Elon Musk via a series of tweets in December 2019, leading it to become one of the most sought-after altcoins that produced a massive price appreciation.

Subsequently, various altcoins were created, either bearing semblance to the symbol of Dogecoin (such as Shiba Inu, the name of the dog features as Dogecoin's logo), or by having some labelling with Elon Musk's name. These meme coins found success for a while, but the crypto market downturn has erased the meme effect and left the coins to find their feet on their own value.

## Dogelon: the story so far

In April 2022, a petition was started on Change.org urging Binance to list Dogelon Mars on its exchange. At that time, it was approaching a $1 billion market cap and seeking 25,000 signatures. In October 2022, rumours of a potential listing by Binance surfaced, and the token shot up 4,194%. However, this listing did not materialise. In the following months, Dogelon Mars gave up all these gains. This is not the first time rumours of a Binance listing have dogged the token. Some of these rumours date back to 2019, but have never resulted in anything substantial.

The gains seen in the ELON token this January are not linked to any listing rumours. They have come as the entire market witnessed a slight push to the upside. The recent market gains result from a shift towards risky assets after data from the US indicated a cooling of consumer inflation. The drop in the US Consumer Price Index has led to bets that the Federal Reserve would force down the size of future rate hikes, with 25 basis points being the preferred number.

This is exerting a downward pull on Tether (USDT) and other USD-pegged stablecoins, allowing tokens like ELON to enjoy a level of price appreciation. While the 19% gains seen this January is a far cry from some of its earlier improvements, the Dogelon Mars community seems excited by what they perceive as a renewed push by the meme coin to get back some of its old shine. The fact that 18,448 people have signed the Change.org petition as of writing is a testament that there are still those who want to pressure Binance to list the ELON token.

The push to get listed on Binance came when there was no clear-cut information about its tokenomics and what value the project would add to the crypto ecosystem. At the time, it seemed that everything that Binance touched turned to gold. 

Even tokens that were floundering on other exchanges got a shot in the arm that turned them into a speculator's delight. It was clear then that the promoters of the Dogelon Mars petition were out to cash out big from every token that had some kind of association with Elon Musk or Dogecoin, either by name or otherwise. That attempt may have worked in October 2022, but it is clear that it has failed miserably in the long run.

The deepening winter in the crypto market and the fallout of the collapse of FTX, Celsius, AAX, and several crypto exchanges and lending platforms means it will be harder for tokens to command appreciation from just a mention of a purported Binance listing.

## Dogelon Mars: What does the future hold?

If Dogelon Mars is to rise from the ashes, the team behind the token has to return to the drawing board and think out a strategy to shift this coin from being just another meme coin to something of real value to the ecosystem.

They need not look too far. [Shiba Inu](/news/article/shiba-inu-news-will-it-rise) was the first meme coin patterned after Dogecoin. It rode the speculation train for a while until the team decided to reconfigure the project to extract value for both project owners and token holders. The SHIB project now boasts a robust ecosystem of its own, featuring three tokens (BONE, Shiba Inu and Leash) and the Shibarium Layer 2 protocol. A launch into the Metaverse is scheduled for 2023. The recent resurgence of the Shiba Inu and BONE tokens is not accidental. The Dogelon Mars team needs to follow a similar pathway to make the ELON token a thing of value. The meme effect is not going to cut it going forward.

## Conclusion

The current price action on Dogelon's pairing with Tether (the most traded pair of this asset) indicates the brief upside move that has taken it from the low of November/December 2022 to its current levels appears to have stalled. This situation is in keeping with the current expectations.

The 19% move higher was only a drag effect exerted by Bitcoin on the entire market. For Dogelon Mars to witness any real price recovery to its previous highs, there has to be a concerted effort by its developers to create value from the ecosystem. 

Otherwise, the ELON token may fall by the wayside even before the market takes a turn for the better.

There is still time for the developers behind Dogelon to make the necessary changes. Shiba Inu is a classic example of how value addition can make all the difference in a token's valuation.


Is Dogelon Mars a Buy After the Recent Upside?

So, Elon Musk finally put pen to paper and bought Twitter. This is probably the highest-profile business deal of 2022.

Long regarded as 'broken', Twitter had fallen into a bad place under previous CEO and founder Jack Dorsey. Users regularly complained of too much spam, counterfeit accounts, and automated reply bots making the platform impossible to use, especially in a business context.

And so, Elon Musk decided to step into the fray with an audacious $44 billion bid. Although initially rejected, it was finally inked on 27 October. 

Let's look at what motivated the Twitter Elon Musk purchase, and what the future may hold for the much-maligned platform.

## Twitter Elon Musk deal

Twitter currently has around 450 million monthly users, with some 237.8 million 'monetizable' daily users. The USA is its most prolific market. Around 24% of all US adults (79m) have accounts, with 40% of all Twitter users aged between 18 and 29, [according to research](https://blog.hubspot.com/marketing/twitter-vs-facebook).

Facebook remains the world's largest social networking site, based on user engagement. Twitter languishes at the bottom of a long list, below even the freeware instant messaging app Kik.

This massive user base with declining engagement goes some way to explain Musk's motivation and desire to transform Twitter into the '[de facto public town square](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1507777261654605828)'.

## Rock solid

Elon Musk is a prolific Tweeter. His average of 16.8 tweets a week compares to the 11.55 from 'similar accounts' (presumably CEOs with large social media presence). Frequent use of the platform may explain the desire behind the Twitter Elon Musk deal, alongside wanting to, in his words, 'help humanity'.

In the three weeks after the deal completed, as promised, a lot happened. First, Musk has committed to firing much of the workforce, with the remaining employees encouraged to quickly 'build and launch new products'.
Secondly, Musk removed the requirement that users validate their accounts in return for the blue check mark. 

Instead, users can purchase this authentication for a monthly fee of $7.99. This encountered myriad problems and, consequently, Musk postponed the rollout until 29 November to 'make sure it is rock solid'.

## Monetization

This may give us an indication of where Twitter could head in the not-too-distant future. The monetization of social media platforms is a hot topic, with many viewing it as an [inevitable step in developing the medium](https://www.disciplemedia.com/community-monetizations/social-media-monetization/).

It is well known that Elon Musk has a strong association with the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin. Indeed, other than buying a brand-new Tesla, [Dogecoin](/news/article/should-i-buy-dogecoin) is now accepted by a growing number of online and in-store merchants, including GameStop, AMC Theatres, and Twitch. With this information in mind, many believe it has become only a matter of time before Twitter becomes monetized.

Social media monetization has been widely discussed in recent years. It is a concept that spans a wide variety of formats depending on the platform, use case, and audience. Monetization is a huge area and would signify a step change for the industry.

## Micropayments

The potential for users to generate income from their content or producers and suppliers of goods and services to utilise an inbuilt platform payment system has [fascinated the crypto world](https://futuristspeaker.com/business-trends/the-emerging-crypto-micropayments-industry/) for many years.

However, for this to become a reality, platforms like Twitter and Facebook need the right micropayment processor for their needs. When you are processing thousands of transactions per minute, it is essential that you not only have the network capability to handle that amount of traffic, but it is also imperative that transaction fees are kept to a minimum.

With this in mind, the close relationship between Twitter, Elon Musk, and [Dogecoin](/news/article/dogecoin-to-gbp) becomes a little clearer. It points a clear path toward the future for both social media and distributed ledger technology.



blue image of the twitter homepage with elon musk standing, arms folded in the foreground. The image represents his acquisition of Twitter

Twitter Elon Musk Acquisition: What Now?

Elon Musk, the CEO of both Tesla and Twitter, [tweets his thoughts on Sam Bankman-Fried's reported donation to the Democratic Party](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1598993109786189826). Musk believes the co-founder and former CEO of the defunct cryptocurrency exchange FTX sent far more money to the party than what was officially acknowledged.

Replying to a tweet by Will Manidis, CEO of ScienceIO, which mentioned that SBF donated $40M to the Democrats, Elon said he believes the amount contributed by the former CEO of the fallen crypto exchange FTX is far bigger than what has been publicly announced.

![elon.PNG](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/elon_2943e6d6a1.PNG)

## SBF donating to political parties - Not for the first time

It is not the first time San Bankman-Fried has donated to a political party. He has previously acknowledged giving to the Republican Party in a covert manner.

 In 2020, he was reported to have given $10 million to assist Carrick Flynn, a failed Democratic candidate for a House seat in Oregon, while also giving $5.2 million to Joe Biden's presidential campaign.

He gave Democrats $39,884,256, according to Opensecrets, before FTX collapsed and had to file for [bankruptcy](/news/article/ftx-bankrupt-who-to-blame). The exchange meltdown caused millions of dollars in losses for investors and users. A probe into FTX's handling of consumer money improperly is now underway. The fall of FTX sparked a contagion that has caused several other platforms and [companies to struggle and some to collapse](https://cryptopotato.com/how-wide-does-ftx-contagion-spread-the-affected-companies-so-far).

Then Elon Musk tweets his allegation that the publicly declared $40M donation is incorrect and the actual amount could be anything above $1B. The internet is already flooded with articles and comments alleging that Bankman-Fried donated this amount to a political party to avoid going to jail.

Meanwhile, SBF has been invited to participate in an investigational hearing set on 13 December, 2022, by Democratic House Financial Services Committee Chair Maxine Waters and Republican Ranking Member Patrick McHenry.

The crypto community, alongside investors who lost their money in the FTX fall, is angry and waiting for justice. What is the future of SBF and will the investors get their money back? These are some of the questions people are looking to get answers to. Clarity will only come after a proper investigation.


Elon Musk Tweets 'Where Did the Money Go?'

There is trending speculation of a rumoured Elon Musk Twitter Dogecoin arrangement. This rumour was spiked by the latest tweet about Twitter's new look, which Twitter's new CEO, Elon Musk, called "Twitter 2.0 Plan" - "The everything app".

This has made investors excited about the possibility of the [cryptocurrency DOGE](/news/article/elon-musk-twitter-deal) being integrated into Twitter. 
This recent disclosure, in a tweet yesterday, by Musk - who shared lots of slides on "Twitter company Talk" albeit without any mention of Dogecoin - saw the DOGE price surge to 19.4% from $0.089 to $0.107 before cooling off to $0.096, [as reported by CoinDesk](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin).

![Picture2.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Picture2_1cf9f20662.png)
 
However, [according to Coinbase, the price of Dogecoin, which has been on the rise by 26.75%](https://www.coinbase.com/price/dogecoin) in the past seven days, declined by 0.72% in the last 24 hours. In the past hour, the value increased by 1.83%. The current price is $0.096255 per DOGE. Dogecoin is 86.99% below the all-time high of $0.74.

You will recall that on 16 May, Musk tweeted a mock-up of what he called "Twitter 2.0" that included a Dogecoin tip button. The tweet sent Dogecoin's price soaring by nearly 30% in just a few hours. Musk, now Twitter's biggest shareholder, has been a long-time supporter of Dogecoin, [often tweeting about the cryptocurrency and even calling it his "favorite" coin](https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.coindesk.com/markets/2019/04/02/elon-musk-calls-dogecoin-my-fav-cryptocurrency/%3foutputType=amp). 

## Elon Musk Twitter Dogecoin Rumours

In another tweet, world-renowned golfer, Matt Wallace, said, with a hashtag:

"#Dogecoin Acceptance for Twitter Blue Would Be Awesome."

This tweet further deepened speculation on the future of a Twitter Dogecoin payment integration arrangement.
 
![Picture1.png](https://s3.eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/prod-monitalks-media/Picture1_1ed3d1e487.png)

If Twitter were to integrate Dogecoin into its platform, it would give the cryptocurrency a major boost in exposure and could lead to more mainstream adoption.

More rumours abound amid speculation that [Twitter may be working on a wallet prototype that supports cryptocurrency deposits and withdrawals](https://cointelegraph.com/news/twitter-will-do-lots-of-dumb-things-in-the-coming-months-elon-musk/amp). That, plus an announcement of [an $8 monthly subscription model](https://cointelegraph.com/news/crypto-fans-should-get-behind-elon-musk-s-subscription-model-for-twitter/amp), led to a 40% surge in price.


Elon Musk Twitter: Dogecoin Spikes Over 

The[ Twitter takeover](/news/article/elon-musk-twitter-deal) by Elon Musk has driven the Dogecoin price higher at various points in the last few weeks. This was because the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX has long been a firm supporter of the coin. Several of his tweets and statements have previously been seen to influence the coin's position. However, revelations made recently about Musk's plans for Twitter have not been favourable to [Dogecoin](/news/article/dogecoin-to-gbp).

## Musk wants Twitter to have new leaders.

Musk [revealed](https://finance.yahoo.com/news/elon-musk-says-expects-reduce-163849041.html) on Wednesday that he expects his time at Twitter to be reduced as he looks for new leadership for the company. He previously fired CEO Parag Agrawal, other top executives, and the entire board of directors. Now, the billionaire intends to hire someone to run the social media company in his place.

Musk revealed this during his testimony in Delaware court in defence of Tesla's $56 billion pay package. He explained that he would stay for the time being because the company needed to be reorganised as a result of the acquisition. He does, however, explain that once Twitter is in a strong position, he will bring in new leadership.

Jack Dorsey, the former CEO and founder of Twitter, had responded negatively to a question about whether he would be open to returning as CEO. Dorsey is already working with BlueSky, a decentralised social media competitor to Twitter.

## Dogecoin Twitter impact

Dogecoin's value has recently been tied to the possibility that Elon Musk will initiate a Dogecoin Twitter integration Initially, making DOGE one of the cryptos used for the "Tip Jar" feature was expected. However, there are now calls for the memecoin to be added as a payment mode for "Twitter Blue".

However, Musk has yet to say anything definitive about a Dogecoin Twitter integration. This is despite the Tesla CEO's continued support for DOGE and promotion of it as the ["people" crypto](/news/article/doge-crypto-elon-musk).

[Dogecoin](/news/article/should-i-buy-dogecoin) (DOGE) has dropped 20.10% to $0.08, following the broader market sell-off and in response to [FTX and Binance's](/news/article/ftx-vs-binance-liquidate-funds) moves.

Investors are concerned that Dogecoin's decline could be a starting point for price destruction. These jitters may end the DOGE bull run in 2022 with a year-end price of $0.06.


What do changes to Twitter mean for Dogecoin?

[Elon Musk’s Twitter](/news/article/elon-musk-twitter) deal has been finalised and he has taken over the company. The news seems to have had a positive influence on Dogecoin ([DOGE](/coins/doge)). The meme coin has continued its bullish market run for a second consecutive day. In July 2022, it made it to our list of "[altcoins to watch](/news/article/altcoins-to-watch-2022)”.

On 10 October, 2022, Dogecoin touched its monthly high of $0.084448. Its price climbed by nearly 17%, with the trading volumes peaking by 196% in the past 24 hours.

Besides, DOGE has also made substantial weekly gains as it soared by 31%. With that, it became the highest performer among the 20 largest cryptocurrencies by market cap. 

However, now its price is down by 5.3%, and it is worth $0.073775, according to [Coingecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin). Nevertheless, over the past two months, Dogecoin’s price hovered around $0.05 to $0.06. Musk closing the deal with Twitter has boosted its position in the market, giving some hope to the Dogecoin investors.

On the other hand, as the DOGE’s value soared, investors [liquidated](/news/article/sell-doge-guide) their futures positions. Data insights from [Coinglass](https://www.coinglass.com/LiquidationData) suggest that around $8.69 million of funds were liquidated in the last 24 hours. 

Apart from that, the overall [crypto market](/news/article/crypto-fear-and-greed-index) has not seen a bullish run. Most cryptocurrencies experienced a flat or negative movement. But the meme coins, DOGE and SHIB, saw a positive price action. Shiba Inu’s value has increased by 7.8%, trading at $0.00001123.

## Elon Musk Twitter deal

Elon Musk’s ‘let that sink in’ move apparently triggered a positive movement for Dogecoin. He took to Twitter to announce his [takeover](/news/article/spend-elon-musk-money) of the company distinctively. 

The CEO of SpaceX and Tesla has been a supporter of [Dogecoin](/news/article/should-i-buy-dogecoin) for a long time. Several of his tweets and statements have been seen to influence the coin’s position in the past too. As he has acquired the company, it is experiencing a bullish movement.



Elon Musk Twitter deal boosts DOGE by 140%

Elon Musk has a history of engaging in keyboard wars on Twitter with many notable names but one of the most infamous is his ongoing spat with Bill Gates.

It all supposedly kicked off in July 2020, the CEO of Microsoft suggested on CNBC's Squawk Box that Musk should reduce the number of controversial vaccination comments he makes and instead concentrate on developing electric cars and rockets.

Earlier this year in a tweet published, Elon Musk accused the billionaire co-founder of Microsoft, Bill Gates of placing bets up to half a billion dollars that the Tesla stock price would decline.

[According to reports](https://fortune.com/2022/05/05/bill-gates-elon-musk-tesla-short-climate-change/), In a text exchange Elon Musk sent Bill Gates the following message, "Sorry, I cannot take your altruism on climate change seriously when you have a big short position against Tesla, the company doing the most to tackle climate change."

Bill Gates responded to Elon Musk by stating that shorting Tesla does not entail betting against the future of the environment or the electric automobiles industry. 

Gates says shorting Tesla is just one of his many investments

[In an interview with the BBC](https://www.bbc.com/news/technology-61329167), Gates stated that his wager against Tesla has nothing to do with his advocacy for environmentally friendly initiatives and policies at the government level. 

"Climate change has absolutely nothing to do with it. I have various avenues for diversification", he stated in the interview. 

The growing market share of electric vehicles will inevitably give rise to increased levels of market competitiveness. There is a distinction between consumers adopting electric cars and businesses reaching their maximum potential value.

In an interview with French Youtuber Hugo Décrypte, Bill Gates mentioned he has invested a significant amount in sustainable finance to support companies that solve environmental and social issues.

"I give a lot more to climate change than Elon or anyone else," Gates said. "I give a lot of philanthropic dollars, I back companies - you know electric cars are about 16% of emissions, so we also need to solve that other 84%."

It is worth noting that Bill Gates plans to [donate virtually all of his wealth to the Bill and Malinda Gates foundation](https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2022/jul/15/bill-gates-billions-fotune-donate-foundation), a non-profit dedicated to fighting poverty, disease and inequity around the world. 

Both men have contributed towards creating revolutionary technologies that have made the world a better place. This just show no matter how smart or successful people may be, personalities will always clash.


Bill Gates Tesla price warning annoys Elon Musk

For the CEO of Tesla, Elon Musk, base layer transactions of the Dogecoin (DOGE) chain are far more superior to Bitcoin and Ethereum’s.

Recently he commented on his support for Dogecoin, saying the token actually has “a much higher transaction volume capability than Bitcoin, and the cost of doing a transaction, the Dogecoin fee, is very low". 

"Right now, if you wanted to do a Bitcoin transaction, the price of doing that transaction is very high. So, you could not use it effectively for most things," he said.

In his latest pubic speech at the Qatar Economic Forum, Musk reiterated his support for DOGE although the meme-based cryptocurrency plunged from an all-time high of $0.76 in 2021 to a price of $0.068 at the time of writing.

Musk is currently facing a[ $258 billion lawsuit over allegations](https://news.monitalks.io/news/article/elon-musk-dogecoin) his companies SpaceX and Tesla are part of a racketeering scheme to back Dogecoin. He explained his love for the currency by saying he met many people who were not rich but who encouraged him to buy the token. “I am responding to those people,” he said.

He also clarified that while Bitcoin and Ethereum “are pursuing a multilayer transaction system”, their base layer transaction rate is slow and transaction cost is high. 

“There is merit to Doge maximizing base layer transaction rate and minimizing transaction cost with exchanges acting as the de facto secondary layer,” [he elaborated](https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1413396249546563586).

## Dogecoin more scalable than Bitcoin according to Mr Musk

When talking about the differing monetary policies between Bitcoin and Dogecoin, Musk said that low issuance rate could result in hoarding and discourage spending. 

Bitcoin cuts the issuance rate in half roughly every four years, while Dogecoin has an unchangeable issuance rate.

“It won’t need to reach visa speed, as regulated exchanges will act as de facto second layer. But the perfect should not be the enemy of the good – it is still good to increase base layer transaction speed & lower base layer transaction cost,” Musk concluded.

The thing is straightforward, after all -  Dogecoin is more scalable because of its layer-one protocol that doesn’t need one more network. The term layer-one is used to define the primary blockchain architecture. Layer-2, on the other hand, is a network that appears at the top of the underlying blockchain.

Even though Bitcoin advocates have been slamming Musk's tweets, saying he's making a groundless admonishment of the widely-adopted cryptocurrencies, the cost and speed of the Bitcoin blockchains have actually been problematic in the past. However, recent upgrades have improved both.


Elon Musk's view on base layer functionality

According to Tesla's newest Q2 financial statement, Bitcoin was one of the essential items that impacted the operating income.

As per the official data, the operating income improved year-to-year to $2.5 billion in the second quarter, resulting in a 14.6% operating margin.

"As of the end of Q2, we have converted approximately 75% of our Bitcoin purchases into fiat currency," Tesla's statement said, adding: "Conversions in Q2 added $936M of cash to our balance sheet."

However, during the regular quarterly investor call, the company's CEO, Elon Musk, revealed that even though Tesla holds Dogecoin as well, it didn't convert any of that into fiat.

 "We still have it," Musk claimed.

Just a month before, speaking at the Qatar Economic Forum in Doha, Musk confirmed he supports Dogecoin, reiterating that Tesla accepts the currency as payment for its products. He also announced that his company SpaceX intends to do the same.

Musk says he intends to 'personally support' Dogecoin in response to the many people who are not wealthy and have encouraged him to buy and support DOGE.

## Tesla’s Musk – Bitcoin and Dogecoin advocate

Back before, Musk was [pretty vocal](/news/article/elon-musk-bitcoin) about owning Dogecoin. However, he never confirmed that Tesla or SpaceX have it in their portfolios. It is not known whether the assets left in crypto are remaining Bitcoin or, perhaps, Dogecoin.

If we try to calculate how much Bitcoin Tesla has left, we should look at the sheet where it says the company owned 42,000 Bitcoin heading into the second quarter.

After the company sold 75%, there should be 10,500 at the quarter's end. We can only presume that the snapshot was taken somewhere at the end of June when fiscal Q2 ended. At the time, 1 Bitcoin was worth somewhere between $18,750 and $20,300. This could mean that there are 10,500 coins, of which $197 to $213 million are Bitcoin.

Musk has been a crypto advocate for years and was pretty influential in market moves. In 2021 he helped Bitcoin jump after admitting Tesla bought some for its corporate vault.


Tesla Bitcoin Sale Confirmed by Elon Musk

Elon Musk  has found himself in the news again as The Boring Company, an infrastructure and tunnel construction services company owned by the serial entrepreneur announced that customers can pay for rides on its Las Vegas transit system “Loop” using Dogecoin (DOGE).

This announcement was made on Wednesday, July 6, per a report by Cable News Network (CNN). This news comes on the back of May’s announcement of SpaceX soon accepting Dogecoin as a payment option for merchandise, joining Tesla.

Loop allows passengers to travel in Tesla vehicles driven by humans at around 35 miles per hour (mph). Riders need to scan a QR code to buy a ticket. As of July 2022, Loop rides are free. 

With that said, the company plans on rolling out charges to passengers in the not-too-distant future. Despite the listing of DOGE as a payment method, customers who are not interested in the use of the meme-inspired currency are free to use other alternative methods of payment. 

In 2021, while [DOGE](/coins/doge) reached new price milestones, The Boring Company landed a great deal to construct more than 50 stations which is a part of a massive tunnel network underneath Las Vegas. 
 
This year has not been good for cryptocurrencies and the first meme-inspired digital currency has been one of the hardest-hit coins. 
As of 11:15 a.m. BST on Thursday, July 7, DOGE was down 90.76% from its all-time high (ATH) of $0.7376 recorded on May 8, 2021, per data from CoinMarketCap.

The coin was exchanging hands for $0.06879, had a trading volume of approximately $378.62 million, and this corresponded to a market capitalisation of around $9.12 billion. 

Despite the downturn of the market, this statistic is impressive since it maintains DOGE as a medium-cap digital asset (at least $2 billion and at most $10 billion in market value) which continues to make strides to reclaim its large cap status. 

Despite being [sued](https://www.monitalks.io/coins/doge) by an investor for billions of dollars lost in Dogecoin investments, Musk took to Twitter to say, “Support DOGE wherever possible.”





Elon Musk’s Vegas Loop starts accepting  DOGE payments

Staked ether (stETH) is a cryptocurrency with the same monetary value as Ether. However, it has been trading at a widening discount to the second-largest cryptocurrency in recent weeks, stoking the fires of a liquidity crisis in the crypto market.

The stETH discount first appeared last month, when the Terra blockchain network and its stable coin UST crashed the crypto markets. Since then, stETH has typically traded at a 2-3% discount, but on Friday, stETH dipped as low as 0.92 ETH, representing an 8% discount to ether.

## Why is Staked Ether on a downtrend?

According to Ape Board, a portfolio analyst from the blockchain intelligence firm Nansen, Celsius, a crypto lender that has been under fire after it blocked withdrawals last weekend, claiming "extreme market conditions," has 409,260 stETH tokens, worth nearly $470 million at current rates.

Analysts at Huobi Research Institute, the research organisation of the Huobi crypto exchange, Johnny Louey and Andy Hoo, claimed in a report Tuesday that Celsius had previously lost over $71 million from staking stETH on Stakehound because Stakehound mishandled the keys.
The concern now is that Celsius may be forced to liquidate its Staked Ether, incurring significant losses and putting more pressure on the token resulting in a downtrend.

Concerned Celsius customers began a quick wave of redemptions at a pace of roughly 50,000 ETH per week, according to the report, and the platform was desperate for liquidity.

stETH, like many other aspects of cryptocurrency, has been caught up in a maelstrom of negative headlines impacting the industry.

Higher Federal Reserve interest rates have sparked a flight to safer, more liquid assets, resulting in liquidity concerns at big corporations in the industry.

Further, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was sued for $258 billion by a Dogecoin investor on Thursday. According to the complaint, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and others have questioned the worth of Bitcoin.

Investors are concerned that the drop in the value of stETH may affect even more crypto participants.

[Ethereum](/coins/btc) just finished its much-anticipated merger dress rehearsal. The event's performance speaks well for Ethereum's upgrade, which investors estimate to happen in August. But there's no telling when it'll happen - it's already been postponed several times.
The most recent updates on Ethereum's testnets have been favorable, giving those waiting for the Merge greater confidence. 

So, when withdrawals are ultimately authorised, any discount in stETH will most likely be arbitraged away, but there will still be some discount until that unknown date occurs.



Staked Ether Crises Due to Crypto Liquidity

This is the wake-up call the bitcoin market has been waiting for. The next few hours will reveal if this is enough to stabilise the price, but there are still many uncertainties surrounding the financial viability of many crypto projects and businesses.
 
On June 19, one of the world's most influential people, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc., publicly supported the cryptocurrency business and the meme coin [Dogecoin](/coins/doge) in particular. On June 19, Elon Musk tweeted to his almost 99 million followers, "I will continue to support Dogecoin."
After that, a user on an exchange told Musk that if he truly supported Dogecoin, he should buy it. When asked if he was buying the dip, Musk replied, "I am."

## Prices are on the rise again

In the wake of his tweet, the cryptocurrency market saw an immediate surge in trust in cryptocurrencies and a flurry of inquiries regarding the long-term viability of numerous projects and businesses.

Data firm [CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/) reports that Dogecoin, which was trading at $0.052307 per minute before Musk's post, is now trading at $0.058037 per minute, an 8 percent increase. They were followed closely by other coins' values. At $19,735.89 as of this writing, Bitcoin is up 4.4 percent in the last hour, making it the most popular cryptocurrency.

Shortly before Elon Musk's tweet, Bitcoin had fallen to a low of $17,677.43 before rising to a high of $18,290.75. Market capitalization leader Ether has gained 6.5% in the last hour to $1,058.60. Last week, Ethereum's native token was trading at $881, its lowest since 2021.
Just over 55% of the crypto market value is held by Ether and Bitcoin, and this fluctuates based on pricing. In the last hour, the total cryptocurrency market value increased by 3.7% to $972 billion.

After a spate of losses, crypto investors appear to be taking a break. Bitcoin's value has dropped by 30.1 percent, while Ethereum's value has dropped by 30.8 percent in the last seven days. 

 


Elon Musk claims to be buying the Bitcoin dip

Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, was sued for $258 billion by a [Dogecoin](/coins/doge) investor on Thursday, alleging him of operating a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency.
 
Plaintiff Keith Johnson filed a case in federal court in Manhattan accusing Musk, electric vehicle firm Tesla Inc, and space tourism company SpaceX of racketeering for promoting Dogecoin and pushing up its price, only to see it plummet.
 
## Plaintiff Keith Johnson's Statement

"Defendants were aware since 2019 that Dogecoin had no value yet promoted Dogecoin to profit from its trading," 

"Musk used his pedestal as World's Richest man to operate and manipulate the Dogecoin Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement."
 
According to the complaint, Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and others have [questioned the worth of Bitcoin](https://news.sky.com/story/elon-musk-sued-for-258bn-over-claims-he-ran-a-pyramid-scheme-to-promote-dogecoin-12635334). Tesla, SpaceX, and Musk's lawyer did not immediately respond to the request for comment.

Johnson's lawyer did not reply to requests for comment on what proof his client has or expects to have that indicates the dog focused meme coins worthless, and the defendants conducted a pyramid scheme.

Johnson is claiming $86 billion in damages, which he claims represents the fall in Dogecoin's market value since May 2021 and wants it tripled. He also demanded Elon Musk and his firms be barred from marketing Dogecoin, and a judge to decide that trading Dogecoin is illegal under federal and New York law.

According to the lawsuit, the selloff of Dogecoin began around the time Musk presented the NBC show ‘Saturday Night Live’ and, playing a fictitious financial expert on a ‘Weekend Update’ segment, called cryptocurrency "a hustle." Tesla said in February 2021 that it had purchased $1.5 billion in bitcoin and had temporarily accepted it as payment for vehicles.

Dogecoin was trading at around 5.8 cents on Thursday, down from its top of almost 74 cents in May 2021.




Elon Musk Dogecoin debacle: The ‘Dogefather’ sued for $258bn 

Could you spend Elon Musk's money if you had it? And what would you spend it on?

For some, well, not all; it's no news that Elon is known for making bold investments in various industries, like automobiles, crypto, space exploration, etc.

Considering how wealthy he has been over the last decades, this is no surprise - earning a massive amount of money off his investments and being the world's richest man with well over $200 billion in net worth.

Elon holds a significant interest in three important companies; Tesla, SpaceX, and Twitter. The business magnate spent a whopping $2.89 billion purchasing a 9.2% stake in Twitter, which, in turn, made him the company's largest shareholder.

Elon is known for bold purchases and wise investments, and Twitter shares surged about 27% right after the purchase.
 
## Elon Musk's Best Investments To Date

Over time, Musk has invested in Tesla, PayPal, SpaceX, and DeepMind Technologies, which became successful companies.

### Tesla

Even though he wasn't a founding member of Tesla, he was among those who led an early round of financing the company back in 2004. And in 2008, he became the CEO of the company. Today Tesla is a significant EV manufacturer and the largest EV company by sales and market share.
PayPal
 
Musk founded X.com with others and that ended up being PayPal in 2001. When the owners sold PayPal to eBay in 2002, Musk, who with an 11.7% stake was the company's largest shareholder, received more than $150 million.
 
### SpaceX
 
In 2002, Elon founded SpaceX with a mission to innovate on space technology and a primary aim of taking humans to Mars. Pretty lofty goals, right? Since its inception, Elon has helped the company take on significant space projects; in 2021, NASA awarded SpaceX a contract to haul astronauts to the lunar orbit of the moon's surface in its Starship vehicles. 

## How Would You Spend Elon Musk Money
 
Considering how wealthy Elon is, being the richest man on Earth, you must have thought: 'How would I spend Elon Musk's money?'. Here are some ideas:

## Buy Bitcoin in Large Amounts
 
If you're keen on investing like Elon or just looking for ways to spend your money reasonably, you can purchase and hold Bitcoin in large amounts. Yes, it's a wise decision; in the past and present times, famous business magnates have evangelized the importance of owning Bitcoin. 

Why? Because it might just be the next big thing in finance, if it isn't already.
 
## Start or Invest in a Company You Love
 
Everyone is passionate about something. If that's you, then spending money on starting a company of your liking isn't such a bad idea. It's easier said than done, but what are the odds of losing if you try? You get to do what you love and start something you're passionate about that could lead to something big.

## Final Thoughts

Suppose you have well over a billion dollars. In that case, you can invest in companies, companies that you love their products oh so much, and, more so, companies that have the potential to innovate or change an industry constantly over time.

Do you love Apple products or Tesla cars? Investing in Tesla and Apple is a perfect way to spend your money wisely without worrying over significant losses.


 
 
 
 
 
 
 



Spend Elon Musk Money? How Would You Spend Billions?

It launched as a meme coin with the slogan "to the moon". [Dogecoin](/coins/doge) could now be heading into space for real.

DOGE-1, a 40-kilogram cube satellite that will fly as a payload on a Falcon 9 rocket, was unveiled on Sunday by Geometric Energy Corporation.  

DOGE-1 is a satellite that will be launched on a SpaceX Falcon 9 rocket and will circle the moon to "collect lunar-spatial intelligence via onboard sensors and cameras with integrated communications and computing capabilities."

According to the news statement, Dogecoin is advanced enough to fund a commercial moon expedition fully and will be used for all lunar transactions between the two firms.

This expedition will demonstrate the usage of cryptocurrencies in space and build the framework for interplanetary commerce, according to SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero in a statement published by Geometric Energy.

## Social Media Hints

There was a lot of "moon Dogecoin" chatter after hints on social media.

The journey, scheduled for the first quarter of 2022, follows Elon Musk's 1 April statement pledging to place Dogecoin "on the literal moon". Not everyone initially took it seriously as he tweeted about it on April Fool's Day. Musk added, "SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon." In cryptocurrency parlance, this is known as "shilling" – the practice of constantly promoting a specific coin to increase its price. He said that the expedition would be paid for in DOGE and that it would be the "first crypto in space". However, the quantity of Dogecoin involved in the transaction with SpaceX was not revealed.

## Musk Refers to Dogecoin as a 'Hustle'

It happened when the price of Dogecoin fell further after the technology mogul claimed on television that it was a "hustle." On Sunday, Dogecoin dropped more than a third of its value when Mr. Musk referred to it as a "hustle" while presenting the Saturday Night Live comedy sketch television show. Mr. Musk's recent comments on the voyage to the moon have aided in transforming the once-obscure digital currency into the world's fourth-largest cryptocurrency. 

According to cryptocurrency data tracker [CoinGecko.com](https://www.coingecko.com/), it has increased by more than 800% in the previous month, with a total market value of more than $70 billion. In May 2018, Musk told reporters, "It's intended to do 10 or more flights with no refurbishment between each trip.

"We believe the [Falcon 9] boosters can fly at least 100 times before being decommissioned."

However, the moon Dogecoin mission is still taking shape, and it is presently planned to be orbital.

According to a Geometric news statement, the mission will launch an 88-pound (40-kilogram) CubeSat (appropriately named Doge-1) on a mission to acquire "lunar-spatial intelligence... with integrated communications and computational capabilities." The cargo will also include video surveillance, the specifics of which are unknown. It is likely to include sensors and cameras. 

In the opinion of Geometric CEO Samuel Reid, the transaction solidified DOGE as a unit of account for lunar business in the space industry. The organisation also promised to do all future missions in Dogecoin, citing rewards such as its security and the ability to conduct transactions even after business hours.  

## A Difficult Week for DOGE

Despite all the wonderful news and enthusiasm, Dogecoin has had a difficult week. Its value has fluctuated for various causes, but Elon Musk has been at the centre of it all. Overall, the cryptocurrency has returned about 10,000% this month and rebounded late Sunday evening after a huge drop on Saturday following Musk's SNL appearance.

Dogecoin's position in terms of real-world utility has recently solidified. AMC Theatres in North America confirmed last month that crypto payments could be made using Dogecoin.

The ascension of Dogecoin to the moon will mark a new milestone in the crypto realm. SpaceX, as a pioneer in private space exploration, is continuously creating precedents for humanity's future in space, whether purposefully or unintentionally.


















To the Moon: Dogecoin into Space

If you want to know the best cryptocurrency to invest in, should you really ask a celebrity?

The popularity of cryptocurrencies has seen many celebrities embrace them. Some celebrities choose only to promote the coins, while others have taken the bold step of investing in the coins.

Matt Damon, Reese Witherspoon, and Kim Kardashian are a few celebrities promoting different cryptocurrencies. Floyd Mayweather, Kanye West, and Paris Hilton are some celebrities who have already invested in various cryptocurrencies.

## Celebrities in the Crypto Market

Celebrities, like everyone, are allowed to invest in whichever asset they wish. However, their involvement in the crypto space has solicited different reactions from different people.

Some people believe celebrities’ involvement in the crypto market is good. They can help grow the market by influencing people to join it. 

Other people look at celebrities in the crypto space as bad, especially those only promoting the coins and not investing in them.

Using their popularity and influence, celebs and social media influencers can easily mislead their fans into investing in the wrong cryptocurrency.

For example, [according to a lawsuit filed in California](https://www.cbsnews.com/news/cryptocurrency-kim-kardashian-celebrity-pump-dump-lawsuit/#:~:text=Celebrities%20Kim%20Kardashian%2C%20former%20NBA%20star%20Paul%20Pierce,for%20themselves%2C%20a%20lawsuit%20filed%20in%20California%20alleges.), Kim Kardashian, Floyd Mayweather, and former NBA star Paul Piece are celebrities accused of using their fame to promote a little-known cryptocurrency called EthereumMax as part of a large scheme to defraud investors while profiting.

## Celebrities Influencing Crypto Investment

Elon Musk is known for influencing the crypto market with a single tweet. He is best known for influencing the price movements of [Dogecoin](/coins/doge) and [Bitcoin](/coins/btc).

He tweeted on February 4, 2021: "Dogecoin is the people's crypto". The tweet increased Dogecoin's price by 10% within an hour and 50% within a day.

On April 28, 2021, Elon tweeted: "The Dogefather." The tweet, alongside the endorsement of billionaire investor Mark Cuban, increased Dogecoin prices by 30%.

In the case of Bitcoin, in March 2021, Elon tweeted: "You can now buy a Tesla with Bitcoin". The tweet enabled Bitcoin to reach nearly $65,000 within a month. In June 2021, Elon tweeted that he had fallen out of love with Bitcoin. The tweet sent Bitcoin price plummeting by 4%.

Even in 2022, Elon Musk's tweets continue to affect the crypto market. Because of his influence, many people await his tweets to make crypto investment moves.

Gwyneth Paltrow, Paris Hilton, Mike Tyson, and Tom Brady are other celebrities who have tweeted promoting various cryptocurrencies.

## Fake Celebrity Endorsement

Scammers have also taken advantage of the increase of celebrities in the crypto market. Some scammers use celebrity images and names to promote fake coins to unsuspecting people.

Before clicking on that pop-up ad, it's always best to do further research to know if the celebrity on the ad promotes the cryptocurrency or crypto platform.

Facebook is currently in trouble for allowing fake celebrity endorsement posts using pictures of TV stars to promote crypto scams. A lawsuit against Meta, Facebook's parent company, claims the company was aware of the fake ads but didn't take any action.

## Conclusion

Celebrity involvement in the crypto space has its pros and cons. However, a celebrity endorsement of a particular cryptocurrency should never be why you invest in the coin. The best cryptocurrency for you to choose to invest in is one you've researched and are confident about.
 
 
 
 
 



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