What happened
Cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE -1.71%) is up 12.6% in the last 24 hours, according to Coinbase, after Elon Musk tweeted a picture of a Shiba Inu puppy. Yes, that's the news that's driving this meme cryptocurrency higher.
So what
Elon Musk is arguably the most influential person in the Dogecoin ecosystem, and small comments or tweets can impact the price of Dogecoin and its spinoff Shiba Inu with no other news. Meme investors, who have flooded the crypto market, seem to read Musk's tweets to look for some meaning about the future of a cryptocurrency whose mascot is simply a Shiba Inu.
Image source: Getty Images.
Outside of the Musk tweet, there's no real news in the cryptocurrency industry. Prices are mixed today, with bigger names like Bitcoin and Ethereum up 2.4% and 1.6%, respectively, over the last 24 hours. But digital coins like Solana are down 4.9%, so the biggest move is related to cyrptocurrencies with dogs as their mascot.
Now what
This sounds like a joke, but Dogecoin specifically will move sharply higher or lower based simply on a few tweets. At the end of the day, these are speculative investors pushing a speculative cryptocurrency higher, and nothing more.
Remember that the volatility and memes that are driving Dogecoin higher today could turn course tomorrow. But in cryptocurrency, volatility seems to be the name of the game, no matter what you're invested in.
