Tesla Billionaire's Secret Backing of Dogecoin Revealed as Bitcoin Prices Waver

Elon Musk, the billionaire behind Tesla and Twitter’s transformation into the “everything app,” is causing a stir in the crypto world. As bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies experience a slowdown, Musk’s favorite rival, dogecoin, has also been affected. However, despite the price collapse of dogecoin and bitcoin, Musk has been discreetly supporting dogecoin’s development.

Prior to his acquisition of Twitter for $44 billion, Musk had considered creating a blockchain-based social media platform with a payment system using dogecoin. According to biographer Walter Isaacson, Musk had been providing financial backing for dogecoin development. Although the exact amount of his funding remains unclear, Musk has expressed his desire to enhance dogecoin to surpass bitcoin and become the dominant global currency.

“I think people mistake the ‘napkin math’ amount of dry powder out there for a need and desire for VCs to deploy that the same way they did in 2021 [and] 2022,” Tom Schmidt, managing partner at crypto VC firm Dragonfly, told The Block.

Meanwhile, venture capital funding for crypto companies has reached its lowest levels in two years, with only $500 million raised in August. This decline represents the fourth consecutive month of decreasing crypto venture funding. However, some companies, such as BitGo and Worldcoin developer Tools For Humanity, have managed to secure substantial funding despite the market downturn.

In July, Musk quietly added the dogecoin Ð symbol to his account on the X app (formerly known as Twitter), sparking speculation about his plans for the platform. As a meme-based cryptocurrency, dogecoin gained popularity in 2021 but experienced a subsequent crash in line with bitcoin and other major cryptocurrencies. Nevertheless, it has retained some of its gains, contributing to a current network worth approximately $9 billion.

Recently, Musk has been collaborating with Wall Street executives to position the X app as an updated version of PayPal. Reports indicate his increasing involvement in the app’s development, including active engagement with dogecoin fan accounts and the addition of the dogecoin symbol.

While Musk has been championing dogecoin since 2018 and advising its developers since 2019, he has also been investing heavily in bitcoin through his companies Tesla and SpaceX. Despite Tesla’s significant purchase of $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in early 2021, Musk sold 75% of it a year later due to Tesla’s difficulty in achieving quarterly profits.

It is crucial to note that Musk’s support for dogecoin should not be perceived as a verdict on bitcoin. As the crypto market faces volatility and declining venture capital funding, Musk’s involvement with dogecoin could potentially revolutionize the landscape.