Dogecoin (DOGE), the world’s largest meme coin by market cap, fell late Sunday after Elon Musk, who is a very well-known fan of the meme token, said the U.S. government “has no plans” to adopt the digital coin.
The tech titan made the clarification at a Sunday town hall in Green Bay, Wisconsin, drawing the line between his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) from the well-loved cryptocurrency.
$DOGE Prices Plummet Amid Musk Snub
From trading at around $0.204 at one point in the day, DOGE prices plunged as low as $0.164 late Sunday following Musk’s statements, representing a 3.4% drop.
Notably, Musk has repeatedly talked about Dogecoin over the years, even acknowledging last year that he has a “soft spot” for the meme token because he likes memes and dogs.
It appears, though, that the soft spot has turned hard as he distanced his unofficial government unit from the digital currency.
Musk Clarifies $DOGE and DOGE are Different
During his town hall speech, the Tesla CEO explained that while the two share similar names, “they’re doing two different things.”
He went on to reveal that DOGE was supposed to the Government Efficiency Commission but since it’s “a super boring name,” he was convinced by “the internet” that DOGE would be the best fit for his government audit department.
Finally, the tech billionaire clarified that “there are no plans for the government to use Dogecoin or anything, as far as I know.”
$DOGE Holders Have Mixed Thoughts
Reactions across the Dogecoin community were mixed, but some had very strong feelings about how Musk worded his statement.
For one user, it is a “humbling” note, given how he believes “decentralization wouldn’t be possible” if the meme token and the government were not separated from the other. “It’s as essential as separation of church and state imo,” the user said.
One user said it “would be nice” if the DOGE used the DOGE meme coin, while another indicated that Musk was “tanking” crypto coins through his comments, which basically means pushing the prices down.
For one user, an apparent DOGE user, “Elon betrayed the Dogecoin community.”
It is unclear why the tech executive only came out to draw the line on the matter decisively at this time, but he has been sued in the past due to his alleged “pump and dump” scheme when he posted about Dogecoin multiple times in the past.
The case has since been dismissed, and it is unclear if Musk’s attitude toward the meme coin is related to the lawsuit at all.
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