Cryptocurrency dogecoin has seen its price fall after Elon Musk called it a ‘hustle’ during his controversial hosting spot on Saturday Night Live.
Despite having previously been a vocal supporter of the cryptocurrency on Twitter, leading to a surge in investment, Musk’s hosting gig coincided with a dramatic drop in dogecoin’s price.
The currency began primarily as a joke contender among the more popular cryptocurrencies of ethereum and bitcoin, and is based on a once-popular meme of a shiba inu, the doge. Now, though, it is in the top five most popular cryptocurrencies in the world.
Since Musk began tweeting about dogecoin, it has grown in prominence on the cryptocurrency scene and has risen 14,000 per cent from January, as well as 800 per cent this month alone.
While some investors expected share prices to go up during the episode, it fell 25 per cent at its lowest, to a price of 47 cents against the dollar (US).
The currency peaked at 71 US cents and had fallen to 51 cents by the end of the show. It has risen again since, but not to its peak price.
In one of the skits, Musk appears as a cryptocurrency expert ‘Lloyd Ostertag’, trying and failing to explain dogecoin to SNL cast member Michael Che.
At one point, Musk referred to dogecoin as “the future of currency” describing it as “an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.”
Che then said, “so it’s a hustle?” to which Musk replied, “yeah, it’s a hustle”.
The SNL episode was divisive, branded ‘brutally awkward‘ by The Guardian while Phil Owen at The Wrap said Musk was ‘the worst host ever‘. However, not all hated the episode, with some viewers taking to Twitter to praise Musk’s performance.
One wrote that Musk was ‘awesome’, while another described the episode as ‘the best show of the season’.
Highlights – or lowlights, depending on your perspective – included Musk appearing as Wario from the Nintendo Super Mario Bros extended universe.
SpaceX, a space corporation owned by Musk, announced earlier this year that they would be sending a satellite to the moon in early 2022 called DOGE-1, funded entirely by dogecoin.
However, the morning after his SNL appearance, Musk seemed to caution against haste to invest in dogecoin, writing: “cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!’
Later, though, he himself tweeted about SpaceX’s dogecoin mission.
SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year
– Mission paid for in Doge
– 1st crypto in space
– 1st meme in spaceTo the mooooonnn!!https://t.co/xXfjGZVeUW
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 9, 2021
