A Shiba Inu-themed coin that started as a joke has now grown into a $60 billion asset with a U.S. department named after it. Crazy, right?
DOGEUSD is on a major upswing. The Shiba Inu-themed coin has been smashing through milestones, recently reaching a three-and-a-half year high of 44 cents. Yesterday morning, the meme coin surged by 33% before pulling back slightly to just under 38 cents.
More importantly, Dogecoin has doubled in value over the past five days, climbing 200% since November 3, just days before Election Day.
Initially created as a joke in 2013, the only thing funny about Dogecoin now is if you missed out when it was just a small-cap token with a few million dollars in value. Today, it’s a powerful $60 billion force. What’s driving this surge?
Dogecoin may be entering the political arena thanks to a recent announcement made by Donald Trump. The President-elect revealed that he is launching the Department of Government Efficiency. In his official statement, Trump referred to it as “DOGE.” Who’ll be leading the DOGE Department? None other than Elon Musk — a huge fan of Dogecoin, and Vivek Ramaswamy, former Republican presidential candidate and currently the world’s richest man.
If confirmed, this department will focus on reducing administrative expenses and auditing those in power for financial and performance accountability.
“All actions of the Department of Government Efficiency will be posted online for maximum transparency,” Musk announced on his X platform. “If the public thinks we’re cutting something important or not cutting wasteful spending, let us know! We’ll even have a leaderboard showcasing the most ridiculously wasteful spending of your tax dollars.”
Following the announcement, Dogecoin spiked around 20% but later gave back those gains, dipping below its opening price for the day. Nonetheless, the Shiba Inu-themed token is still up roughly 150% since the election.
Elon Musk also saw personal gains with Trump’s presidential win. After the election, Tesla stock had its best week in over a year, soaring 32% to close at $321.22 per share, pushing the company’s market cap beyond the $1 trillion mark for the first time since 2022.
With Tesla’s stock rallying, Musk’s net worth ballooned by a staggering $52 billion in just one week. The world’s richest man is now sitting on a $314 billion fortune, outpacing Jeff Bezos by $84 billion. But it’s not his all-time high — back in late 2021, Musk’s net worth topped $330 billion when Tesla shares were trading above $400 each.
