Dogecoin shot higher on Tuesday night, extending the post-election surge after President-elect Donald Trump officially announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, referred to as “DOGE” in a statement.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate and co-founder of Strive Asset Management, will lead the department, Trump said in a statement. Together, they “will pave the way for my Administration to dismantle the Government Bureaucracy, reduce excessive regulations, cut wasteful expenditures, and restructure Federal Agencies.”
Dogecoin rose almost 20%, before paring its gains. By 2 am ET time, it was trading at $0.37 after reaching about $0.43. It was one of the biggest winners in the post-election rally, gaining 153% since election day compared to his bitcoin 30% increase in the same period. It was also shot through XRP this week making it the sixth largest cryptocurrency by market cap.
Dogecoin jumped after President-elect Donald Trump announced the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency, or “DOGE.”
Memecoins are seen as a measure of retail interest and risk appetite in crypto. When memecoin activity increases, it usually indicates that retail investors are participating and have an appetite to speculate more on the risk curve.
Trump initially floated the efficiency commission idea in September. Since then, Musk – who has called himself the “Dogefather” in the past and has been known to make public comments about memecoins affecting its value – has posted on the social media platform X, referring to the commission as the “Department of Government Efficiency” or “DOGE”
Dogecoin gained relevance in 2021 after Musk’s endorsement and constant hype on social media, which has now become a huge catalyst for the coin. In May of that year, Musk’s post sparked dogecoin’s rally to an all-time high of 67 cents, per Coin Metrics. Despite an appearance on SNL, the so-called dogecoin “hustle,” caused its price to plummet.
Other crypto markets are on hiatus from the post-election rally. Bitcoin traded flat around $87,000, after briefly touching $90,000 in afternoon trade. Crypto shares Coinbase and MicroStrategy they are lower by 1% and 2%, respectively, in full trade.
