Elon Musk said his rocket company SpaceX would now accept payments by meme-inspired cryptocurrency.
On Twitter he said the company will launch the space exploration “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” early next year.
This came as dogecoin continued to fall after the billionaire expert said on television that it was “a hustle”.
Literal Dogecoin On The Literal Moon
Last month, he wrote on Twitter that SpaceX would put “real Dogecoin on the real moon”.
The Geometric Energy Corporation of Canada announced a dogecoin-funded mission earlier Sunday, although a statement did not disclose its financial value.
“This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce”, SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero was quoted as saying in the statement.
World’s Fourth Biggest Crypto
Mr Musk’s tweets in recent months have helped turn a hidden digital currency, which was started as a social media joke, into the world’s fourth-largest cryptocurrency.
It rose more than 800% last month, with its total market value rising above $ 70bn, according to cryptocurrency data tracker CoinGecko.com.
However, dogecoin lost more than a third of its price on Sunday, after Mr Musk called it a “hustle” while hosting a Saturday night comedy television program.
Tesla’s Entry Into Cryptocurrencies
In February, electric car maker Tesla, of which Mr Musk was chief executive, said he bought $ 1.5bn worth of bitcoin and was planning to accept cryptocurrency as payment for his cars.
The announcement was seen as another major step towards the adoption of bitcoin and helped raise the price of cryptocurrency to a new record high of almost $ 62,000.
Last month, Tesla announced that its profits for the first three months of the year were $ 438m, up from $ 16m last year, strengthened by Bitcoin sales and EV credit.
Mr Musk also revealed Saturday night that he has Asperger’s syndrome.
People with Asperger’s interpret the environment around them differently from other people.
It is thought this is the first time Mr Musk has spoken about his condition.
