Elon Musk is currently battling to reduce the “terrifying” $36 trillion U.S. debt through his dogecoin-inspired Doge department of government efficiency, fueling wild bitcoin adoption speculation.
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The bitcoin price, which soared in the aftermath of president Donald Trump’s November U.S. election victory, has dropped back as fears swirl U.S. tariffs could hit the global economy—with some analysts warning a recent bitcoin price plunge could be just getting started.
Now, as Musk confirms he wants to put the U.S. Treasury on bitcoin and crypto blockchain technology, the Tesla billionaire has warned those expecting to “win” through betting on so-called memecoins are being “foolish”—as a memecoin crash threatens the bitcoin price rally.
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Elon Musk, who’s leading the dogecoin-inspired Doge department of government efficiency, has warned … [+]
“I mean it’s sort of like if you go to the casino, if you expect to win at the casino, you’re being a fool,” Musk told comedian podcaster Joe Rogan in a wide-ranging three-hour interview.
Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek bitcoin rival that was embraced by Elon Musk, is one of the original memecoins and rocketed to an $80 billion market capitalization during the Covid-era crypto rally before crashing back.
However, dogecoin managed to hold on to more of its gains than its critics expected and is currently worth around $30 billion.
“If you expect to win at meme coins you’re being foolish, you’re not going to win, don’t sink your life savings into a memecoin … don’t bet the farm,” Musk said.
The latest memecoin market frenzy began last year, helped by the launch of platforms like Pump.fun that allow memecoins to be easily created in seconds.
Memecoins such as dogwifhat, pepe, bonk and shiba inu saw their prices surge, culminating with the launch of Donald Trump-themed memecoin that was endorsed by the president.
“We’ve been hypnotized by price spikes, memecoin frenzies, and media spectacles, forgetting that crypto was meant to be a new financial system—one built on decentralized protocols that make finance accessible to everyone,” Dom Harz, cofounder of decentralized finance (DeFi) platform Build on Bitcoin (BOB), said via email.
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The bitcoin price has fallen sharply, dragged down by a memecoin price crash that Elon Musk has … [+]
The memecoin market peaked in December last year at a combined $137 billion market capitalization, according to CoinMarketCap data, before dropping sharply and then bouncing back when Trump posted about his $trump memecoin.
The $trump memecoin soared to over $60 before crashing back and is now trading at under $14.
“The issue isn’t just price declines—it’s the realization that insiders could accumulate large amounts early, leverage major crypto exchanges for liquidity, and then sell to retail investors at over $60 per token, only for it to trade below $16. This growing awareness may be discouraging further speculative frenzy,” 10x Research founder Markus Thielen wrote in an emailed note.
“This shift in sentiment has significantly dampened retail speculation, reinforcing our cautious outlook. Daily meme coin launches peaked shortly after the $trump coin debut but have declined sharply. $Trump is now down -85% from its highs, trading at just $11.5, leaving retail investors again sitting on heavy losses after buying into the hype.”
