Elon Musk Touts ‘People’s Crypto’ Dogecoin, Shades SHIB

Elon Musk has set the record straight on his cryptocurrency portfolio. In doing so, the famous entrepreneur reminded investors just how much influence he has over market prices. In a rare switch from mini-tweets in which Musk usually doesn’t elaborate, this time the tech billionaire has provided some context around his investment decisions. Dogecoin was a clear beneficiary while rival meme coin Shiba Inu has lost momentum.

It started with a tweet by SlumDoge Millionaire about a Benzinga crypto survey, which found that close to 33% of U.S. cryptocurrency investors have Dogecoin in their portfolios. Musk responded, revealing how he made his crypto investment decisions. While there are no taxi drivers involved, it is clear that he is not seeking out professional investment advice, though he is talking to experts in a field that hits closer to home.

He revealed that many of his employees “on the production lines at Tesla or building rockets at SpaceX” own Dogecoin. Musk pointed out that these individuals “aren’t financial experts or Silicon Valley technologists,” which is precisely what convinced him to “support Doge,” which he named the “people’s crypto.”

Start Trading Dogecoin now with eToro

Shiba Shade

Whether Musk meant to or not, he gave some shade to Shiba Inu, the spin-off meme coin of Dogecoin whose community has been fixated on the billionaire. That’s because when the Twitter account “Shiba Inu Hodler” asked Musk how much SHIB he is holding, the Tesla chief replied, “None.”

The letdown may have come as a shock to SHIB holders considering that Musk has been tweeting updates on his new Shiba Inu puppy, Floki.  In response, the SHIB token, which had rallied by a double-digit percentage over the weekend to a new record high, turned negative. Musk went on to explain that he owns some Bitcoin, Ethereum and Dogecoin, which he bought out of curiosity. Musk stressed that he does not “bet the farm on crypto.”

Dogecoin Bump

Dogecoin investors, meanwhile, are as bullish as ever, now that Musk has added further validation to the original meme coin. The Doge bulls are out in full force and are already predicting that the Dogecoin price is headed to fresh all-time highs. At last check, the Doge price has risen close to 3% to $0.26 but rose as high as $0.28 in the last 24 hours.

Musk is well aware of his influence on the cryptocurrency market and has previously said that when prices rise, it’s a good thing.