Doge days: Musk kills the bird in bizarre Twitter change
Elon Musk has quietly made a massive change to Twitter that has left some users upset and others just confused.
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Twitter’s homepage received a major makeover on Monday when its iconic blue bird was replaced by a picture of Dogecoin’s cartoon Shiba Inu dog.
The move came as a surprise to users, but it didn’t take long for Dogecoin to soar in value by as much as 30 per cent.
As of approximately 2.45pm US time, Dogecoin had settled down but was still trading nearly 20 per cent higher at roughly 10 cents per token, its highest level since early February.
Twitter CEO Elon Musk, a major supporter of Dogecoin, commented on the change by sharing a cartoon depicting a “doge” interacting with a police officer.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 3, 2023
Dogecoin’s official Twitter account also reacted to the change with a reference to the famous meme that sparked the currency’s reaction, tweeting, “Very currency. Wow. Much Coin. How Money. So Crypto.”
However, the sudden appearance of the Dogecoin logo on Twitter’s homepage raised questions among some users.
Independent journalist Judd Legum wrote, “Musk paid $44 billion [US] for Twitter and is now apparently using it as some sort of pump-and-dump scam for Dogecoin.”
Musk’s lawyers, however, dismissed the notion, calling the lawsuit a “fanciful work of fiction” and stating that “there is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.”
The timing of the change is also noteworthy, as it comes just days after Musk’s lawyers asked a judge to dismiss a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing the billionaire of running a “pyramid scheme” to boost the digital currency’s value.
Musk has frequently touted his support for Dogecoin, tweeting last June that he was still buying the meme token even as other cryptocurrencies fell in value.
Last year, Tesla began accepting Dogecoin as payment for some items available in its online store.
Musk has also floated the possibility that Dogecoin will be integrated as a form of payment on Twitter at some point.
However, it remains unclear what prompted the sudden appearance of the Dogecoin logo on Twitter’s homepage.
Nevertheless, the move appears to be a boon for the meme cryptocurrency, which has gained significant attention and support from celebrities like Musk and rapper Snoop Dogg.
In Australia the change is visible on desktop viewing while app versions appear not to have changed.
Originally published as Doge days: Musk kills the bird in bizarre Twitter change
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