Dogecoin’s price has climbed more than 36% over the past three weeks. On March 13, DOGE traded at $0.1116, compared with today’s price of $0.1525.
The upward trend has continued this week. The meme coin began Monday morning with an early 2% gain before retracing slightly later in the day. As of writing on Tuesday, its price had risen another 5.67%.
In this article we examine the main reasons behind Dogecoin’s recent price rally.
Why is Dogecoin (DOGE) in a price rally?
Dogecoin has returned to the spotlight for several reasons, but one factor stands out: its association with SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk. Musk has been a prominent supporter of the meme coin, and one of his companies, Tesla, now accepts DOGE as payment for certain products.
On Monday, April 4, 2022, Elon Musk purchased 73,486,938 shares of Twitter for roughly $3 billion, becoming the platform’s largest shareholder.
Elon Musk is already making twitter a better place pic.twitter.com/9rTgRXoYTe
— Zero HP Lovecraft 🦅🐍 (@0x49fa98) April 4, 2022
Prior to the acquisition, Musk had criticized Twitter over transparency and free speech concerns.
Given that Twitter serves as the de facto public town square, failing to adhere to free speech principles fundamentally undermines democracy.
What should be done? https://t.co/aPS9ycji37
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 26, 2022
The critical tweet followed a poll Musk ran asking users if they believed Twitter strictly adhered to the principle that “Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.”
Free speech is essential to a functioning democracy.
Do you believe Twitter rigorously adheres to this principle?
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) March 25, 2022
$DOGE tipping on Twitter
After Musk became Twitter’s largest shareholder, many in the Twitter community speculated—and some openly hoped—that he would introduce a $DOGE tipping feature on the platform.
Elon Musk has purchased a massive 9.2% stake in Twitter making him the company’s largest public shareholder
Expect:
– Free Speech and open dialogue
– Less crypto spam bots
– A #Dogecoin tip jar!— 💸💸💸 (@itsALLrisky) April 4, 2022
The expectation is understandable: Musk is a known Dogecoin holder and now has significant influence at Twitter. Any move to integrate Dogecoin tipping or payments into the platform would likely increase visibility and trading activity for DOGE, contributing to upward price pressure.
Twitter moving toward dApps
Musk’s involvement comes at a moment when Twitter itself has been exploring decentralization. In November of the previous year, Twitter announced the formation of a crypto team focused on steering the company toward decentralized apps (dApps) and related infrastructure.
Tess Rinearson, Twitter’s head of crypto, was tasked with shaping the platform’s crypto strategy as the team investigates ways to incorporate decentralized technology and infrastructure into the product.
These developments unfold against a broader push by crypto enthusiasts for decentralized social platforms. A thought experiment in the Orange Paper suggested that if Bitcoin had been invented before Twitter, the evolution of social media might have followed a more decentralized path from the start.