Elon Musk warns crypto fans to 'invest with caution' as Dogecoin explodes

By Marc McLaren
published

The Telsa boss could send Dogecoin to the moon on his SNL spot, but he's now telling people to be careful

Elon Musk warns investors to be cautious about cryptocurrency
(Image credit: Win McNamee / Getty Images)

Elon Musk has done more than most to boost cryptocurrency's popularity over the past year, but the Tesla boss is now urging people to be cautious about investing.

Musk has repeatedly tweeted about the likes of Dogecoin and Bitcoin, proclaiming to his 53m followers that he's the "Dogefather" (opens in new tab) and that "SpaceX is going to put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon." (opens in new tab) But in his latest missive, Musk had a very different message.

In a tweet shared this morning, ahead of his appearance on Saturday Night Live tomorrow (Saturday, May 8), Musk tweeted that (opens in new tab) “Cryptocurrency is promising, but please invest with caution!”

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He also shared a video of an older interview with TMZ (opens in new tab), in which he stated that "People should not invest their life savings in cryptocurrency, to be clear. I think that’s unwise.”

Admittedly, he then went on to say that “If you want to speculate and have some fun… there’s a good chance that crypto is the future currency of Earth," but it's still something of a mixed message from the billionaire.

Dogecoin investors in particular have been eagerly awaiting Musk's spot on SNL, in the hope that he'll further proclaim his love for the "memecoin," which was orginally created as a joke riposte to Bitcoin but which has now grown to become one of the top cryptocurrency performers by market capitalization value.

Dogecoin started the year with a value of $0.005 but has risen sharply in recent months to the point where it's now worth $0.61. That represents scarcely believable growth of 12,000% in 2021 and gives it a total market cap of around $80 billion — which, somewhat bizarrely, makes Dogecoin more valuable than Ford and Twitter.

Pundits have speculated (opens in new tab) that if Musk talks about Dogecoin on SNL slot it could soar yet higher. And as Musk himself has stated, it would be a delicious irony were a joke currency to ultimately end up as the biggest of all cryptos. 

In the February interview with TMZ, he said, "The point is that Dogecoin was invented as a joke as essentially to make fun of cryptocurrency. Fate loves irony. What would be the most ironic outcome? The currency that started as a joke in fact becomes the real currency. To the moon!” 

That said, Dogecoin still has quite a way to go if it's to supplant the biggest cryptocurrencies: a single Bitcoin is worth around $55,000, and it currently has a market cap of more than $1 trillion.

So, how high could Dogecoin go? It's impossible to say, but some experts believe (opens in new tab) it could top $1 this year and eventually even reach $10. Critics, meanwhile, counter that the fact there's an unlimited supply of Dogecoin will see it fall victim to inflation and prevent it sustaining its current trajectory. 

Time will tell on that front, but one thing is clear: if Musk does hold forth on Doge on SNL, it'll likely shoot up in the short term at least.

Marc McLaren
Marc McLaren

Formerly Editor in Chief (U.K.) on Tom’s Guide, Marc oversaw all gaming, streaming, audio, TV, entertainment, how-to and cameras coverage, and was also responsible for the site’s U.K.-focused output. He is now U.K. Editor in Chief on TechRadar. Marc previously edited the tech website Stuff and has tested and written about phones, tablets, wearables, streaming boxes, smart home devices, Bluetooth speakers, headphones, games, TVs, cameras and much more. He also spent years on a music magazine, where his duties mainly involved spoiling other people’s fun, and on a car magazine. An avid photographer, he likes nothing better than taking pictures of very small things (bugs, his daughters) or very big things (distant galaxies). When he gets time, he also enjoys gaming (console and mobile), cycling and attempting to watch as much sport as any human can. He's also fallen in love with Wordle over the past six months and is the author of our today's Wordle answer column, in which he supplies hints and strategy tips for the mega-popular word game. Given he's completed every single Wordle so far and only lost once, and analyzed every Wordle answer in search of patterns, he's well qualified to help you safeguard your streak.

1 Comment Comment from the forums
  • KADC
    In what way is stating to invest with caution "a very different message " as opposed to being rudimentary advice? Likewise, how is telling people not to invest their life's savings in a single venture "a mixed message" and not merely common sense?

    Unless Musk previously told people to risk everything they own it seems like he's being pretty consistent about his belief in the future of cryptocurrencies.
    Reply