Dogecoin rallies on Elon Musk tweet, anticipated Coinbase listing

Dogecoin soared early Friday after a tweet from supporter Elon Musk, and as Coinbase said it would list the meme-inspired cryptocurrency.

The price of dogecoin climbed to an intraday high above 56 cents at 3 a.m. ET, according to data from Coin Metrics. As of 7:15 a.m., dogecoin was up 35% at 52 cents per coin. It’s still down about 20% from a record high of nearly 67 cents only a week ago.

Musk tweeted Thursday that he was working with dogecoin developers to improve the efficiency of transactions.

On Wednesday, the Tesla CEO made a surprise announcement that his electric car firm would stop accepting bitcoin as payment due to concerns over its environmental impact.

That led to a brutal sell-off in cryptocurrencies, including dogecoin. Dogecoin had already fallen significantly after Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, in which he called the digital coin a “hustle.”

Meanwhile, the crypto exchange platform Coinbase said Thursday it would offer dogecoin support in the next six to eight weeks. Many crypto traders have flocked to the zero-fee investing app Robinhood to trade the meme token; now Coinbase’s move could lead to more trading activity.

Dogecoin isn’t taken very seriously by loyal bitcoin supporters. It started in 2013 as a joke, inspired by the “Doge” meme, but has since found a growing community online. Dogecoin is now the fourth-largest crypto by market value on CoinMarketCap, worth over $68 billion.

Financial experts warn that dogecoin is a highly speculative asset. It has stoked worries over a potential bubble in crypto markets — though some economists would say all cryptocurrencies are in a bubble.

Last week, Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey warned crypto investors should be “prepared to lose all your money,” echoing a similar warning from the U.K.’s Financial Conduct Authority.

Bitcoin was also higher Friday, with the world’s biggest digital asset up 4.1% at a price of $50,875. Ether, the second-biggest cryptocurrency, rose 9.3%, to $4,017.