{"id":113877,"date":"2021-05-08T02:13:04","date_gmt":"2021-05-08T02:13:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/?p=113877"},"modified":"2021-05-08T02:13:04","modified_gmt":"2021-05-08T02:13:04","slug":"dogecoin-in-spotlight-as-cryptocurrency-backer-musk-makes-snl-appearance","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/fin2me.com\/markets\/dogecoin-in-spotlight-as-cryptocurrency-backer-musk-makes-snl-appearance\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogecoin in spotlight as cryptocurrency backer Musk makes 'SNL' appearance"},"content":{"rendered":"
NEW YORK (Reuters) – With the price of dogecoin surging, investors are looking ahead to Elon Musk\u2019s guest-host spot on this weekend\u2019s \u201cSaturday Night Live\u201d comedy sketch TV show after the billionaire\u2019s tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency into a speculator\u2019s dream.<\/p> The Tesla Inc chief executive will host the show at 11:30 p.m. EDT on Saturday (0330 GMT on Sunday). The timing puts Musk, who is also known as an enthusiast of cryptocurrencies, back in the spotlight just as Tesla\u2019s stock is losing steam following last year\u2019s monster rally.<\/p>\n Musk is the rare business mogul to be asked to host the venerable comedy TV show.<\/p>\n The unconventional CEO has posted numerous comments about cryptocurrencies on Twitter and criticized regular old cash for having negative real interest rates. \u201cOnly a fool wouldn\u2019t look elsewhere,\u201d he said in February.<\/p>\n His cryptic tweets \u201cDoge\u201d and \u201cDogecoin is the people\u2019s crypto\u201d that month kicked off a rally in dogecoin – created as a joke on the more mainstream bitcoin and ethereum – that has yet to stop.<\/p>\n \u201cI\u2019m a wild card, no telling what I might do,\u201d Musk, wearing a black bandana, joked this week in a promotional video for the show alongside musical guest Miley Cyrus. \u201cSame here,\u201d Cyrus said. \u201cRules? No thanks.\u201d<\/p>\n On Thursday, Musk tweeted: \u201cCryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!\u201d with a video clip attached in which he said, \u201cit should be considered speculation at this point. And so, you know, don\u2019t don\u2019t go too far in the crypto speculation …\u201d<\/p>\n But he also said, in the video, that cryptocurrency has a \u201cgood chance\u201d of becoming what he called \u201cthe future currency of the earth.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cMy dogecoin went up after you tweeted,\u201d one person shouted at Musk in the video. \u201cYou\u2019re amazing. How did you do it?\u201d<\/p>\n On crypto data tracker CoinGecko.com, dogecoin has jumped more than 800% over the last month and is now the fourth-largest digital currency, with a market capitalization of $81 billion. It was last up nearly 14% on the day at $0.62.<\/p>\n It has overtaken more widely used cryptocurrencies like litecoin and tether.<\/p>\n \u201cThe latest surge in dogecoin is a continuation of the greater fool theory trend we\u2019ve seen playing out over the past couple of months,\u201d said David Kimberley, analyst at investing app Freetrade.<\/p>\n \u201cMore people are aware of what\u2019s going on and are looking to jump on the gravy train to make a quick buck. It\u2019s very likely that Elon Musk pumping the coin tomorrow on prime-time U.S. TV will only serve to compound things and push the price up.\u201d<\/p>\n Tesla said in February it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its electric cars, a large stride toward mainstream acceptance that sent bitcoin soaring to a record high of nearly $62,000.<\/p>\n Tesla shares closed 1.3% higher at $672.37 on Friday.<\/p>\n