Dogecoin prices topped 15% on news that Tesla was accepting the cryptocurrency as payment for merchandise on its digital marketplace, with prices at 8 a.m. ET on Friday (Jan. 14) 0.19, up 11.51%, according to multiple reports.
Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk teased plans on Twitter in December that dogecoin payment acceptance was in the works for its eCommerce store, tweeting, “Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes.”
Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) December 14, 2021
See also: Tesla Tries Dogecoin as Payment, Report Says
The caveat with dogecoin merchandise purchases is the terms and conditions, which include a no returns or refunds policy. Tesla merchandise purchased using traditional payments methods can be returned within 30 days of receiving the product. To purchase using dogecoin, users must transfer funds from a dogecoin wallet to Tesla, a transaction that can take up to six hours, according to the website.
Musk has been a steady supporter of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin, and his tweets often move the prices. The crypto was launched in 2013 with a starting price of 0.00026.
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The world’s 11th largest cryptocurrency has a market capitalization of $24 billion. Earlier this year, Tesla abandoned its move to accept bitcoin as payment for its electric cars over environmental concerns. Bitcoin mining uses large amounts of energy, compared to dogecoin, which uses significantly less.
“Cryptocurrency is a good idea on many levels and we believe it has a promising future, but this cannot come at great cost to the environment,” Elon Musk said in a statement at the time.
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Cryptocurrencies moved into the mainstream in 2020, with an estimated 13% to 14% of Americans owning or having owned cryptocurrencies, PYMNTS reported.
Bitcoin’s market capitalization briefly hit $3 trillion in November 2021, when bitcoin’s price neared $68,800. Ether, which started the year at about $750, closed 2021 close to $4,000. Prices have since taken a hit in the new year, with bitcoin trading at $42,227 at around 8 a.m. ET on Friday (Jan. 14) and ether trading at $3,219.
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