--- title: "Elon Musk Says He’s Helping Dogecoin Devs Make It More Efficient" description: "This evening, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted that he's working with the developers of Dogecoin to make the cryptocurrency more efficient." date: "2021-05-13" modified: "2021-05-13" authors: - name: "Jon Christian" job_title: "Executive Editor" link: "https://futurism.com/authors/jonc" url: "https://futurism.com/elon-musk-dogecoin-devs" categories: - "Elon Musk" - "Future Society" - "The Industrialists" tags: - "dogecoin" - "elon musk" - "tesla" --- # Elon Musk Says He’s Helping Dogecoin Devs Make It More Efficient ![Tesla CEO Elon Musk isn't afraid of the Securities and Exchange Commission coming after him for tweets about the cryptocurrency dogecoin.]() *\Image: Victor Tangermann\* This evening, Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk [tweeted that]() he's working with the developers of Dogecoin to make the cryptocurrency more efficient. "Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency," he said. "Potentially promising." Musk has made cryptocurrency a core part of his identity over the past year. On Twitter, and during an appearance on "Saturday Night Live" the past weekend, he's brought forth an onslaught of memes about Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek cryptocurrency that's spiked in value since becoming the subject of Musk's attention. He also embraced the seminal cryptocurrency Bitcoin at his electric carmaker Tesla, which [bought $1.5 billion worth]() of the digital cash in February of this year and [started accepting it]() for car purchases in March. Things got more complicated in April, though, when Tesla [unloaded $100 million of that Bitcoin](). Musk characterized the sale as a move to "prove liquidity" for the cryptocurrency. Then yesterday, in a surprise reversal, Musk [said that Tesla]() would no longer be accepting Bitcoin as payment for its vehicles. Musk said that the flip flop was due to Bitcoin's [considerable environmental toll](), but the move prompted [furious outrage from cryptocurrency enthusiasts](), who argued that it's vanishingly unlikely that the mercurial billionaire didn't understand the carbon footprint of Bitcoin mining when he started to dabble in it at Tesla earlier this year. Before making the Dogecoin announcement today, Musk had already been musing about topics related to the environment and cryptocurrency. "It is high time there was a carbon tax!" he [exclaimed](). Later on, [he tweeted]() that "I strongly believe in crypto, but it can’t drive a massive increase in fossil fuel use, especially coal." It's not clear how serious Musk was about helping the Dogecoin team, or what form that help might take. And to be fair, Musk could be joking about the collaboration. Dogecoin itself, the price of which has [surged more than 10,000 percent]() this year largely because of Musk's boosterism, is in the middle of a controversy of its own. This week, an app developer and startup accelerator [announced their intentions]() to assemble a team that would build apps that work "off the Doge blockchain." But a Twitter account associated with actual Dogecoin developers immediately distanced itself from the project. "We are aware a new company has started offering devops services on Dogecoin," the [account tweeted](). "Please note this does not involve any of the team maintaining Dogecoin Core." A current Dogecoin developer didn't answer questions about a potential collaboration with Musk by press time. But Doge creator Billy Markus, who is no longer involved in the project, did share his own thoughts in the form of a meme. https://twitter.com/BillyM2k/status/1392979214849040386 **More on Elon Musk:** *[Elon Musk: Tesla Immediately Suspending All Bitcoin Car Purchases]()* ## Author I'm responsible for editing, assigning, and scouting at Futurism, as well as occasionally writing for the site. That work involves keeping an eye on a wide range of narratives and issues, but over the past few years I've become increasingly interested in how AI is shaping the future of media, the web, and information itself. My day-to-day often involves collaborating on reporting and commentary projects bylined by my colleagues, but I try to find time to do my own reporting as well; stories I've broken for Futurism have been cited by publications including the New York Times, the Washington Post, the New Yorker, Wired, Ars Technica, New York Magazine, the Columbia Journalism Review, Bloomberg, and more. I grew up in Southern Vermont and attended Vanderbilt University. Prior to Futurism, I contributed to outlets including the Boston Globe, Vice, Wired, Slate, the Atlantic, the Outline, Ars Technica and more, and did stints in farming and food service. I currently live in Brooklyn, New York, and in my free time I enjoy pinball, word games, cycling, running, and music production. ### Author social links [Bluesky]()