Elon Musk Triggers Massive Crypto Price Earthquake—Sending The ‘Joke’ Bitcoin Rival Dogecoin Soaring Above Ethereum Challengers Solana And Cardano

Elon Musk, the Tesla billionaire who last week took Twitter private, has helped the price of the meme-based cryptocurrency dogecoin more than double over the last week as people speculate about his plans for the social network.

Subscribe now to Forbes’ CryptoAsset & Blockchain Advisor and successfully navigate the $2 trillion bitcoin and crypto market crash

Dogecoin
DOGE
, a fork of bitcoin originally created as a “joke,” has seen its price surge as traders bet Musk will somehow integrate the cryptocurrency into Twitter as he has previously done at his companies Tesla and SpaceX.

Now, after Musk posted a picture of a dog wearing a Twitter t-shirt, dogecoin has rocketed above ethereum rivals solana and cardano, according to CoinMarketCap’s price ranking, with some speculating dogecoin could become a “crypto market leader.”

It’s in a brutal bear market that you need up-to-date information the most! Sign up now for the free CryptoCodex—A daily newsletter for traders, investors and the crypto-curious that will keep you ahead of the market

MORE FROM FORBES‘A Super Interesting Idea’-Is This Elon Musk’s Real, Radical Plan For Twitter?By Billy Bambrough

Dogecoin has seen its price increase by 140% since this time last week, giving it a market capitalization of almost $20 billion. Bitcoin
BTC
, for comparison, has a market cap of just under $400 billion while ethereum, cardano and solana sport market caps of $190 billion, $14 billion and $11 billion, respectively.

The rest of the crypto top ten, including ethereum, cardano and solana, have rallied over the last week but have been left in the dust by dogecoin as traders pile into the memecoin.

“Like bitcoin, dogecoin bottomed in June and traded in a deafening sidewall until last week,” Alex Kuptsikevich, FxPro senior market analyst, wrote in emailed comments. “Its surge of 140% in seven days has formed a promising bullish picture. Is it possible that it will become a leader in the entire crypto market? Why not.”

Musk’s Twitter post also saw dogecoin challenger shiba inu leap by almost 5%, while some smaller meme-based coins also saw a sudden surge, it was reported by Coindesk.

In September, it emerged Musk had discussed plans to verify Twitter users with dogecoin transactions in an attempt to crack down on rampant scams and bots on the platform.

Sign up now for CryptoCodex—A free, daily newsletter for the crypto-curious

MORE FROM FORBESEthereum Founder Issues ‘Controversial’ Bitcoin And Crypto Warning Amid Wild Price SwingsBy Billy Bambrough

Musk, dogecoin’s biggest supporter after appearing to sour on bitcoin, said last year that “dogecoin is better than bitcoin for payments” and proposed upgrading dogecoin to speed up transactions and cut fees.

Earlier this year, Musk’s electric car company Tesla followed his rocket company SpaceX in accepting dogecoin as payment for merchandise.