Elon Musk says in a tweet that he bought dogecoin for his son, sparking a 16% surge in the 'meme' token

<p><img src="https://static1.businessinsider.com/image/6023fcb7cca90200129b7708-2000/2020-12-01T185845Z_1225724892_RC2IEK9HXXMC_RTRMADP_3_TESLA-MUSK-GERMANY.JPG" border="0" alt="elon musk laugh" data-mce-source="Reuters"></p><p></p><bi-shortcode id="summary-shortcode" data-type="summary-shortcode" class="mceNonEditable" contenteditable="false">Summary List Placement</bi-shortcode><ul><li><strong>Elon Musk's tweet spree on Dogecoin continued on Wednesday after he said he bought some of the meme-based token for his son.</strong></li><li><strong>The tweet sparked a swift 16% surge in the cryptocurrency.</strong></li><li><strong>"Bought some Dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler," Musk tweeted.</strong></li><li data-stringify-indent="0"><a href="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" data-stringify-link="https://newsletter.businessinsider.com/join/4np/10-things-opening-bell" data-sk="tooltip_parent"><strong data-stringify-type="bold">Sign</strong><strong data-stringify-type="bold">&nbsp;</strong><strong data-stringify-type="bold">up</strong><strong data-stringify-type="bold">&nbsp;here for our daily newsletter, 10 Things Before the Opening Bell</strong></a><strong data-stringify-type="bold">.</strong></li></ul><hr><p>Elon Musk sparked another surge in Dogecoin on Wednesday after <a href="https://twitter.com/elonmusk/status/1359519541219500033">he tweeted</a> to his 46 million followers that he bought some for his 9-month old son, XA-Xii.</p><p>Dogecoin surged as much as 16% following the tweet, spiking from $0.069 to $0.08.<a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/dogecoin-price-surges-tweets-from-elon-musk-snoop-dogg-cryptocurrency-2021-2-1030055654">This isn't the first time an Elon Musk tweet sparked a rally in the cryptocurrency.</a> <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/dogecoin-price-elon-musk-twitter-cryptocurrency-market-trading-reddit-doge-2021-2-1030043774'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest">Nor is it the second time.</a></p><p>Dogecoin is a shiba inu meme-inspired cryptocurrency that was started as a joke in 2013.</p><p>"Bought some Dogecoin for lil X, so he can be a toddler hodler," Musk tweeted.</p><p>The rally helped Dogecoin reclaim a total market valuation of $10 billion, which makes it <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/dogecoins-10-billion-valuation-bigger-than-well-known-companies-2021-2-1030061698">bigger than these 11 well-known companies.&nbsp;</a></p><p>Dogecoin differs from bitcoin in that there is no hard limit on the total supply of coins. Bitcoin has a fixed supply of about 21 million coins, of which not all have been mined yet. Dogecoin on the other hand has more than 100 billion coins outstanding, with 5 billion in new coins hitting the supply every year.</p><p>Even the founder of dogecoin, Billy Markus, can't make sense of the surge in the coin he started as a joke. Markus&nbsp;<a href="https://www.wsj.com/articles/elon-musks-dogecoin-tweeting-has-believers-barking-for-more-11612607401'mod=hp_lista_pos4" target="_blank" rel="noopener">told The Wall Street Journal,</a>&nbsp;"The idea of dogecoin being worth 8 cents is the same as GameStop being worth $325, it doesn't make sense."</p><p>Musk's affinity for cryptocurrencies has been on full display this week, given <a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/currencies/news/tesla-buys-bitcoin-elon-musk-stock-accept-form-of-payment-2021-2-1030055107">Tesla's disclosure that it purchased $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin in January.</a> The announcement helped spark a more than 20% surge in the popular cryptocurrency.&nbsp;</p><p><strong><em>Read More:&nbsp;</em></strong><a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/stocks-to-buy-26-economic-recovery-low-rates-goldman-sachs-2021-2'utm_source=markets&amp;utm_medium=ingest" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>GOLDMAN SACHS: Buy these 26 'best of both worlds' stocks set to soar with economic recovery even if interest rates stay low</em></a></p><p><img src="https://static4.businessinsider.com/image/6023ffc967d1e300113c53f3-595/musk tweet.JPG" border="0" alt="musk tweet.JPG" data-mce-source="Twitter"></p><p><a href="https://markets.businessinsider.com/news/stocks/elon-musk-dogecoin-tweets-bought-for-son-crypto-bitcoin-tesla-2021-2-1030067740#comments">Join the conversation about this story &#187;</a></p> <p>NOW WATCH: <a href="https://www.businessinsider.com/what-its-like-to-do-your-own-taxes-for-the-very-first-time-2018-2">July 15 is Tax Dayhere's what it's like to do your own taxes for the very first time</a></p>
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