The big picture: The self-professed "Dogefather" has been instrumental in pushing the value of the joke-turned-legitimate cryptocurrency to new heights this year, largely through a series of tweets about Dogecoin. Leading up to his hosting gig on SNL this past weekend, it was almost a given that Musk was going to mention Dogecoin during the show.
Elon Musk didn't do Dogecoin any favors with his appearance on Saturday Night Live over the weekend, at least not in the short term.
It didn't take long for the first name drop to come, as Musk's mother brought up the cryptocurrency during his opening monologue.
Later during the Weekend Update segment, Musk played a financial expert named Lloyd Ostertag who spoke for a few minutes about cryptocurrency - and specifically, Dogecoin. After being repeatedly asked what Dogecoin is by the two correspondents, Musk eventually conceded that it was "a hustle."
It was at this time that the coin's value started to tumble, losing roughly 31 percent of its value in about eight hours. Dogecoin has since regained some of its lost value and is currently trading around $0.50 per.
Crypto in general is still riding high, with several coins having hit all-time highs in recent days. Ethereum recently touched $4,172.10 and Litecoin reached a new high of $413.69 over the weekend.
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