Dogecoin cryptocurrency surges ahead of Elon Musk SNL appearance

It is now valued higher than Twitter and Ford and soared in the past week, despite the fact the digital currency was started as a parody in 2013.

Dogecoin, a meme cryptocurrency that was launched as a joke in 2013, has risen in value more than 100 per cent in the past week as Tesla founder Elon Musk, an influential crypto backer, prepares to host Saturday Night Live.

Musk, who announced his SNL appearance by tweeting, “The Dogefather SNL May 8” last week, also wrote on Twitter that the coin will “definitely” make an appearance in a comedy sketch.

The currency briefly traded at $US0.70 ($A.89) per coin on Tuesday, and is now valued higher than Twitter and Ford, according to BeInCrypto.

The Space X billionaire, whose Tesla company now accepts cryptocurrency payments for cars, has sent the price of the currency, inspired by the Japanese Shiba Inu dog breed, soaring several times in recent months.

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Elon Musk hyped his SNL appearance by tweeting ‘The Dogefather SNL May 8’. Picture: Brendan Smialowski/AFP

Parody currency becomes real deal after Musk tweets

After calling bitcoin “BS” in December, Musk tweeted “One word: Doge,” propping the currency up to about half a US cent.

In February, the meme currency once again took off after Musk mentioned it in a series of tweets.

Investors who put $US1000 ($A1280) into the currency on January 1 would have $US112,500 ($A144,500) in their wallets as of Wednesday night; an increase of 11,150 per cent, according to Coinbase’s pricing history.

Gemini CEO Tyler Winklevoss announced his company would allow trading of the coin on Tuesday, and extolled its virtues in a blog post.

“Dogecoin is the people’s money,” Mr Winklevoss wrote. “It’s organic, irreverent and fun. It’s not forced on us by a government or some other central authority. It’s chosen by us, for us – by the people, for the people. Wow.”

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After raising the value of bitcoin following tweets about it, now Musk has increased the value of dogecoin which began as a parody currency. Picture: Ozan Kose/AFP

The Oakland Athletics became the first baseball team to accept dogecoin for ticket sales, Coindesk reported.

On Sunday, Mark Cuban, whose Dallas Mavericks also accept the currency, took to Twitter to explain his support.

“As long as more companies take doge for products/services, then doge can be a usable currency because it MAY hold its purchasing value better than a $ in your bank,” Cuban wrote. “Yes, a joke is now legit.”

However some bankers warn that the parody currency and other cryptos could end their dizzying run before SNL’s Weekend Update.

“It is dangerous being a speculator [in bitcoin], long or short,” Galaxy Digital CEO Mike Novogratz told MarketWatch. “It is a danger buying here and a danger [betting against dogecoin] here … you could lose a lot of money.”

This story originally appeared on the New York Post and is reproduced here with permission