On March 13, during an engagement with the public at the Berlin Gigafactory, a Tesla manufacturing facility, Elon Musk entertained a question from an audience member regarding the possibility of purchasing Tesla products using Dogecoin (DOGE) in the future.
Musk responded affirmatively to the inquiry, stating, “At some point, I think we should enable that.”
Musk’s positive response ignited excitement among investors, leading to a sudden surge in the market price of the token. Dogecoin experienced a notable increase from $0.172 to $0.188 at the time of reporting, representing a 9.3% uptick as the video gained traction on X.
Musk’s involvement with Dogecoin began after several employees from the Tesla Gigafactory urged him to endorse Dogecoin as an official mode of payment. A similar request was made to him at SpaceX by visitors advocating for Dogecoin support, which Musk eventually embraced.
Tesla initiated acceptance of Dogecoin payments for its merchandise starting on Jan. 14, 2022. At the outset, the company clarified its support solely for Dogecoin payments, stipulating that any other “non-Dogecoin digital assets sent to Tesla will not be returned to the purchaser.”
Recently, Musk’s “everything app” X (formerly Twitter) established an ‘XPayments’ account for its forthcoming payments feature, fueling speculation within the crypto community regarding the potential implementation of cryptocurrencies.
There is anticipation that the X app will introduce in-app payment services by mid-2024. However, it remains unconfirmed whether the feature will extend support beyond traditional fiat currencies or if Musk will fulfill his followers’ vision of integrating Dogecoin into mainstream usage.
