For meme-token investors, Dogecoin (DOGE -3.38%) remains the gold standard most pay close attention to. Initially created in 2013 as a joke by founders Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, this cryptocurrency has seen an impressive community grow in recent years, culminating in noteworthy surges during various periods of momentum-driven hype rallies.
Over the weekend, Dogecoin saw such a rally materialize, surging from less than $0.07 per token to more than $0.09 in a matter of a few hours. However, as of 3:30 p.m. ET, Dogecoin has given up approximately 4% over the past 24 hours, trending toward the mid-point of this range at the time of writing.
This weekend's surge is tied to speculation around an X (formerly known as Twitter) account that was launched with a gold-verification badge. This "X Payments" account now has more than 116,000 followers, and many are now speculating this could signal to the markets that Elon Musk's move into transitioning X toward a payments network could be underway. Importantly, in a post roughly one year ago, Musk signaled his intention to have crypto integrated into his future payment platform, something Dogecoin enthusiasts have relied on during previous rallies.
Let's dive into why what appears to be a "sell the news" rally is building with Dogecoin today.
Plenty of uncertainty around potential catalysts remains
Many of the most ardent Dogecoin investors have waited years for an Elon Musk-owned payment system to materialize. Indeed, Musk's comments around his intention of integrating Dogecoin into some sort of payment platform have been ongoing for years as has his support for Dogecoin in the past.
However, investors appear to have kicked off the week with a critical eye, potentially viewing this weekend's impressive rally as overdone. Indeed, a rally of more than 25% in any asset over such a short period of time is bound to invite some investors to take the other side of the trade. There's plenty of buzz continuing to build around some sort of Dogecoin-related announcement for X's future payments strategy. But until we see something materialize, it's entirely possible that this "sell the news" rally could continue.
Now, Musk has previously approved Dogecoin as a form of payment for Tesla's (TSLA -1.11%) merchandise store and tweeted incessantly about this token in the past. Investors may simply be trying to get ahead of any sort of positive rhetoric in a bid to catch the rally. However, others may argue that the rally could potentially already have taken place. These divergent views are generally what makes markets, and this period of consolidation is one that appears to make sense right now.
Where to go from here
Elon Musk has stated previously that his goal is to have some sort of payments functionality launched on X by the middle of this year. Given that we're just kicking off 2024, and this "X Payments" account has yet to make a post, some near-term selling pressure may be expected from here.
That said, it's also entirely possible that the anticipation and hype around a potential payments integration could propel the next big move higher in Dogecoin. At this point, it's all speculation.
I've long viewed Dogecoin as a vehicle for speculation, and this token's price action over the weekend and into today only supports this narrative. Thus far, Dogecoin has proven its worth as a trading vehicle but little else. And while there may be some future value investors can ascribe to this token as a true form of exchange, for now, the jury remains out.
