Elon and Doge: A Timeline
Travel Back In Time to Relive the Best Story in Crypto
Hey everyone,
With so many new people joining the Dogecoin community, I wanted to put together a timeline of everything that’s happened over the past few years with Elon and Doge.
As far as I know, this is the most complete account of the world’s most ambitious entrepreneur’s support for a dog-themed digital dollar alternative.
No one know what comes next, but already been a wild ride and truly amazing story.
Let’s travel back in time to see how far Dogecoin has come, and where it might be headed.
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April 2019: The story of Elon Musk and Dogecoin begins on April Fool’s Day 2019, when the official Dogecoin Twitter account runs a poll asking who should be the next CEO of Dogecoin. The voters pick Elon Musk in a landslide.
The next day, he accepts the nomination and writes, “Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It’s pretty cool” before resigning from the position and changing his profile to read, “Former CEO of Dogecoin.”
Later in the day, he posts a satirical article about Bitcoin along with the commentary “Dogecoin value may vary.”
Doge, valued at a fraction of a penny, briefly surges 30% on the news.
June 2020: In the middle of coronavirus, during an improbable stock market rally, Elon posts a suggestive Dogecoin meme depicting a “dogecoin standard” sandstorm descending on the global financial system along with the text, “It's inevitable.”
Dogecoin price briefly doubles.
December 2020: Markets continue to rally through the end of the year, and crypto euphoria in full swing. A few days before Christmas, Elon makes a mysterious post: ”One word: Doge.”
He again changes his bio to read, “Former CEO of Dogecoin.”
January 2021: Meme stock fervor overtakes social media as thousands of retail investors band together to take down Wall Street in the “Reddit Rebellion.”
The idea is to buy heavily shorted stocks like GameStop and inflict massive losses on hedge funds, who are betting the companies will go bankrupt.
New investors are recruited by spreading memes depicting a life-and-death struggle between Main Street “Apes” and Wall Street “Suits” and “Hedgies.”
The vibe is “Occupy Wall Street 2.0”—little guys uniting to take on the real baddies: the rapacious money mafia.
Elon is virtually alone among public figures in siding with retail investors over Wall Street short sellers.
He makes several tweets criticizing hedge fund shorts, and for good reason: Tesla stock has been relentlessly attacked by predatory short sellers since the company went public.
Meme stock mania reaches its apex on January 28th, when several exchanges simultaneously block users from buying the stocks. Prices plummet, leading to accusations of foul play.
In the aftermath, Elon questions Robinhood exchange CEO Vlad Tenev about the perception that Wall Street colluded to shut down the meme stocks: “what everybody wants to know is, did something shady go down here?” Tenev pins the blame on federal regulatory agencies but stops short of accusing anyone of wrongdoing.
February-May 2021: With the meme stock energy dissipating, Elon starts posting about Dogecoin, which acts as a bridge for retail investors to continue their meme-driven crusade for market fairness.
In a February 5th poll, he asks Twitter about the future currency of Earth. The two choices are “Dogecoin to the Moooonn” and “All other crypto combined.” 71% of 2.4 million respondents choose Doge.
In a viral TMZ video clip the next day, Elon urges people to use caution with crypto, emphasizing that it is a speculative investment.
He also says, “there’s a good chance that crypto is the future currency of earth, and then it’s like, well which one is it gonna be?” before positing an answer to his own question: “the point is that Doge was invented as a joke, essentially to make fun of cryptocurrency. I think there’s an argument that fate loves irony. What would be the most ironic outcome? That the currency that was invented as a joke in fact becomes the real currency.”
Dogecoin-mania quickly takes over social media and price catapults from under a penny to seven cents in the span of a week. Several celebrities endorse the coin, including Snoop Dogg and Gene Simmons.
In mid-February, Elon posts a “Ɖ is for Ɖogecoin! Instructional video” which ties Doge to the original Reddit meme stock movement.
He pledges his “full support” to the project of Dogecoin on the condition that the largest holders sell most of their coins so ownership of Doge is not concentrated among a few wealthy entities.
Elon then begins a months-long stretch of regularly posting Dogecoin memes and commentary.
At one point, he says SpaceX will “put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon.”
At another, he tweets the soundtrack to Baz Lurman’s modern adaption of Romeo + Juliet, in which the first letters of each artist spell out “DOGE #1”
May 2021: Doge-mania culminates with Elon’s May 8th appearance on SNL.
In anticipation of the event, Dogecoin shoots up to 69 cents while Elon teases a segment called “The Dogefather.” He reposts the TMZ video with the commentary, “Cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!”
The afternoon before the show, with price ripping, Wall Street Bitcoin baron Barry Silbert announces he is shorting Doge on the later-revealed-to-be fraudulent exchange FTX. Dogecoin begins to tumble.
During the SNL episode, Elon gives Dogecoin to his mom for Mother’s Day during the opening monologue.
On a segment called “Weekend Update”, he plays financial expert Lloyd Ostertag, who describes Dogecoin as “the future of currency — it’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.”
Ostertag also calls Dogecoin a “hustle”, an ambiguous comment which most news outlets interpret to mean “scam.”
In the aftermath of the show, the mainstream narrative is, “Elon Musk admits Dogecoin is a grift.”
The day after the show, Elon announces Doge-1, a lunar satellite made by a company called Geometric Energy Corps, who paid SpaceX for the mission in Dogecoin.
In the post, Elon is notably bullish on Doge. He doesn’t mention Silbert’s tweet.
Two days later, he posts a poll asking if Tesla should accept Dogecoin. Nearly four million people vote, with over three-quarters saying “Yes.”
May-July 2021: Elon begins a rhetorical battle with Bitcoiners about his support for Doge. Bitcoin maximalists turn against him, arguing that he is distracting from Bitcoin, which they view as the only serious cryptocurrency.
Elon chooses to frame the debate in larger terms, between crypto and government-controlled fiat currencies, writing, “The true battle is between fiat & crypto. On balance, I support the latter.”
In one exchange, he articulates the roadmap for Dogecoin to improve its blockchain to the point where it could serve as small purchases crypto (digital cash) which would complement the slower, more secure Bitcoin (digital gold).
In another exchange, he affirms the idea that Doge could be considered a “Private Stimulus for the people”—an opportunity for regular folks who missed Bitcoin to have a second chance at crypto success.
In late May, he posts a picture of his gaming laptop with a Dogecoin dollar sticker, hinting that the meme “Dogecoin to a dollar” is still alive.
In July, Elon attempts to foster a truce by meeting with Bitcoiner Jack Dorsey at a conference called “The B-Word.”
During the interview, he praises both Bitcoin and Dogecoin.
A few days later, he posts a Matrix meme with a key assertion: Dogecoin is money.
For the rest of the year, Doge takes a back seat. Doge knockoff Shiba Inu Coin steals the spotlight in October, while Bitcoin briefly makes a new all-time-high. Doge bides its time in the shadows, waiting for the right moment to strike.
January 2022: To kick off the new new year, Elon announces that Tesla has begun accepting Dogecoin for select merchandise purchases.
Later in the month, Elon offers to eat a Happy Meal on TV if McDonalds accepts Dogecoin.
March 2022: In the early stages of the Russia-Ukraine conflict, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister posts a Doge wallet address to Twitter and calls on Elon and the DogeArmy to support his country. The wallet receives nearly a million Dogecoin.
Elon, who has been buying Twitter stock, makes his first move to acquire the company. In exchanges with Dogecoin community members, he floats the ideas to swap the bird logo with a Doge and add a Dogecoin tip jar.
April 2022: Tesla opens its Texas Gigafactory with a Cyber Rodeo celebration. There is a drone light show, which features a Doge.
June 2022: Amid a rocky stretch for crypto, Elon reaffirms his support for Dogecoin, writing: “I will keep supporting Dogecoin” and adding he is still buying more.
July 2022: The Boring Company begins accepting Dogecoin for its Vegas Loop tunnel, making it the third of Elon’s companies to adopt the currency. Elon writes, “Supporting Doge wherever possible.”
October-November 2022: Elon completes his acquisition of Twitter. On Halloween night, he posts a photo of his Shiba Inu Floki wearing a Twitter cape, along with a winking emoji.
A few days later, the fraudulent exchange FTX collapses. In a Spaces event about FTX, Elon is asked about Doge-Twitter integration. He responds, "I'm working hard on the Doge front [...] I think there's probably a future for Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Doge [...] If you've got one of those three in a cold wallet, not on an exchange, my guess is, it works out well."
February 2023: Elon appears at the Super Bowl wearing a t-shirt from the Dogecoin.com merch store. When asked what he was talking about with media baron Rupert Murdoch, he writes, “Dogecoin.”
Two days later, Elon steps down from the role of Twitter CEO and appoints his Shiba Inu, Floki. He announces the move with a photoshoot of Floki in a black turtleneck.
April 2023: Elon makes good on his word by changing Twitter’s bird logo to a Doge on the web version of the platform for three days. Doge-mania briefly returns.
June 2023: Amidst an aggressive government campaign to de-bank the crypto industry, Elon posts, “Cry 'Havoc!' and let slip the Doges of war.”
July 2023: Twitter rebrands to 𝕏. Elon changes his profile location to 𝕏Ɖ and likes a logo of an Art Deco 𝕏 silhouetted by a Doge outline.
August 2023: DOGE-1 gets an official launch window between November 15th and 20th.
Later in the month, Elon posts, “X is a dog & Doge friendly place!”
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Wow, that’s the story so far. What a journey.
So after looking at the full body of evidence, what do you think?
Is Elon really serious about Dogecoin?
What do you think his next move will be?
And will the Dogecoin Saga go down as one of the greatest stories in financial history?
Thank You!
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Disclaimer: This is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. The article above references an opinion for entertainment purposes only and it is not investment advice. Always assume that the author of the article is actively trading and that the opinions expressed may be biased towards the author’s holdings. Do your own research and consult with a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decision. Do not treat any opinion expressed in this newsletter as a specific inducement to make a particular investment. Content, news, research, tools, and securities symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or cryptocurrency or to engage in any particular investment strategy. The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. All investments involve risk, losses may exceed the principal invested, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, cryptocurrency, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Dogecoin is a speculative and highly volatile asset susceptible to pump-and-dump schemes.
At the time of publication, Dogecoin is around $0.06 per coin.
