Dogecoin tumbles after Elon Musk calls it a 'hustle'
Dogecoin was quoted as low as US$0.47 on crypto exchange Binance
NEW YORK (Reuters) - The value of dogecoin dropped sharply in early U.S. hours on Sunday (May 9), after Tesla chief and cryptocurrency supporter Elon Musk called it a ‘hustle’ during his guest-host spot on the Saturday Night Live comedy sketch TV show.
Dogecoin was quoted as low as US$0.47 on crypto exchange Binance, down 28 per cent from levels around US$0.65 before the show.
The billionaire Tesla chief executive hosted the show at 11.30pm EDT on Saturday (Sunday, 11.30am, Singapore time).
Cryptocurrency enthusiasts had for days been eager to see what he would say, after his tweets this year turned the once-obscure digital currency into a speculator’s dream.
Asked "what is dogecoin", Musk replied, "It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world."
When a show cast member Michael Che countered, "So, it’s a hustle?", Musk replied, "Yeah, it’s a hustle." And laughed.
Musk is the rare business mogul to have been asked to host the venerable comedy TV show. The timing puts Musk back in the spotlight just as Tesla’s stock is losing steam following last year’s monster rally.
The unconventional CEO has posted numerous comments about cryptocurrencies on Twitter and criticized regular old cash for having negative real interest rates.
"Only a fool wouldn’t look elsewhere," he said in February.
His cryptic tweets "Doge" and "Dogecoin is the people’s crypto" that month kicked off a rally in dogecoin - created as a parody on the more mainstream bitcoin and ethereum.
