It’s only fitting that we talk about Dogecoin the same week the Vatican chose their new Pope. Long before cryptocurrency was born – or Elon Musk – a doge was one of the leaders of Italy’s many city-states, until the country was unified in 1861. The word itself comes from Venetian Italian via the Latin dux, meaning a spiritual or military leader; its modern equivalent is duce, as in “Il Duce” Benito Mussolini.
Not that Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer had Italian history in mind when they created Dogecoin in 2013. They were just riffing on the “doge” meme of the time, which itself was a play on Homestar Runner’s classic mis-pronunciation of “What is up, my dog” from Biz Cas Fri 1 (2005). But when you think of Dogecoin (DOGE), you almost certainly think about Musk. He became the world’s richest man shortly after his “One Word: Doge” tweet from December 20, 2020 caused the price of DOGE to surge 20%.
Okay, the price of Tesla stock (TSLA) had something to do with it as well. But let’s get to the point: Whenever Musk goes on the social media platform he later purchased in 2022 and says something to promote Dogecoin, the price seems to go up. That’s not always the case when Musk appears in public; his disastrous May 8, 2021 hosting gig on Saturday Night Live saw the price drop by about 30%.
So here we are with the price of Dogecoin rallying again after Musk pledged in late April to “significantly” reduce his highly visible role in the Trump Administration. DOGE has climbed from around 16 cents U.S. at that point to 23 cents as we go to press; BetOnline (visit our BetOnline Review) has the total for the price of DOGE at 25.5 cents for the end of 2025, and if we’re reading the tea leaves correctly here at the ranch, the Over is an easy choice at -120 on the financial odds board.
How Much DOGE Does Musk Own?
We’re not sure. Unlike President Trump, Musk has been somewhat coy about his cryptocurrency holdings; he would only admit in January 2024 that he owned a “bunch.”
Having said that, according to Watcher Guru, there is a crypto wallet out there holding some 28.27% of all the DOGE in circulation as of November 2024. There are just under 150 billion tokens circulating at press time. That would mean something like 42.4 billion tokens in Musk’s wallet – if it’s his, which has yet to be confirmed.
What we do know is that Tesla accepts Dogecoin for payment as of May 2024, at least for some items. Lo and behold, the price of DOGE surged 20% after that announcement was made. These two things are in close economy under Musk’s umbrella; what’s good for Tesla should prove the same for Dogecoin.
Is Musk Actually Stepping Back?
He has to. As a temporary government employee, Musk is only allowed to work 130 days a year, which means his time is up at the end of May – assuming people follow the rules, of course. We’ll soon see about that. In the meantime, Musk has indeed started keeping a relatively low profile as his popularity numbers sink to new lows. An April poll by AP and the NORC Center for Public Affairs Research showed just 33% of American adults with a favorable view of Musk, down from 41% in December.
The anti-Musk backlash also saw the price of Tesla stock cut in half since the end of 2024. But once Musk made his public pledge to step away from the Oval Office, TSLA went back up from around $240 to $260; it’s trading at $347.02 as we go to press.
That number remains well below the $479.86 Tesla reached in mid-December at the height of Muskmania. From a crypto betting standpoint, this means there’s more room for recovery, and more potential growth for both TSLA and DOGE in 2025. Bet accordingly.
