Gary Zhou 
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, polled his nearly 54 million Twitter followers last night, asking a simple question: “Do you want Tesla to accept Doge?”
The survey had received over 3.06 million responses by 1:15 p.m. EST, with 77.5 percent of respondents voting “Yes.” Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency, has gained attention in recent months as a result of its rapid growth in value and popularity. Musk has been a strong advocate for Dogecoin and other cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Musk, the self-styled “Dogefather,” is now debating whether cryptocurrency can be used to buy Tesla products.
Tesla began accepting Bitcoin as a form of payment for its vehicles in late March, but it wasn’t the company’s first foray into the cryptocurrency. Tesla had revealed in its 2020 10-K filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission that it had invested $1.5 billion in Bitcoin in December. Tesla had sold a portion of its investment and made a profit of over $100 million by the time the Q1 2021 Earnings Call was released in April. Tesla will recognize Bitcoin in other regions later this year, according to Musk.
So far this year, Dogecoin has increased by over 10,000 percent, but it has experienced a pullback over the weekend. Despite Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live, where he spoke openly and positively about Doge, the coin has fallen sharply from its $0.75 high, reaching a low of 42.04 cents in the last 24 hours. Doge is currently up on the day, with a total increase of about 3 cents. It is currently selling for around $0.50 per coin.
When it comes to Doge and its public acceptance and subsequent use to buy consumer products, Musk has put his money where his mouth is. He praised Bitcoin earlier this year, saying that he thinks the cryptocurrency would finally be adopted by conventional financial institutions. “I do at this point think Bitcoin is a good thing, and I am a supporter of Bitcoin. I think Bitcoin is really on the verge of getting broad acceptance by conventional finance people,” Musk said.
Musk also hinted that Dogecoin could be used for SpaceX flights, with the DOGE-1 Moon mission set to launch in Q1 2022.
