Dogecoin continues to surge as Elon Musk flexes influence over Trump’s staffing picks

Dogecoin is on a week-long tear, skyrocketing from $0.15 to $0.43 within days to mark its highest value in more than three years. The Shiba Inu-themed memecoin gained 12% on Tuesday, continuing a sharp uptrend since it became apparent President-elect Donald Trump would reclaim the White House.

In the last week, Dogecoin has also significantly outpaced Bitcoin —which has itself been soaring. Once the eighth-largest cryptocurrency, the memecoin has climbed to number six, eclipsing XRP.

This performance appears to validate investors’ prediction that a Trump win would be a boon for Doge, not least because the coin’s most visible booster— Tesla founder Elon Musk—has become an integral part of the President-elect’s inner circle after aligning himself with Republicans in July.

Since the election, Musk has reportedly spent every day with Trump at his estate in Palm Beach, Florida. As the President-elect assembles his administration, reports suggest that Musk is weighing in on Trump's staffing choices.

Throughout his campaign, Trump floated the idea of tapping Musk to run a new department to oversee government spending called the Department of Government Efficiency, or D.O.G.E. — an obvious nod to Musk’s favorite memecoin.

At various campaign rallies, Musk’s mere mention of the department (which may or may not come into existence) sent Dogecoin surging . With Trump regaining control of the White House, there is likely to be more news about Musk and his proposed government efficiency initiative, which could in turn translate to more free publicity for Dogecoin.

On Monday, a Kentucky representative urged Congress to pass “at least a dozen bills to shrink government overreach” before Trump takes office in a post on X, to which Musk responded “Government Efficiency FTW!!” — FTW stands for “for the win.”

Trump’s win has also proven to be beneficial for crypto more broadly. He campaigned heavily on pro-crypto stances making him the industry’s preferred candidate. In the run up to the election, Trump was strongly favored on crypto prediction markets like Polymarket and Robinhood.

His win has sent the entire crypto market on an upswing, with Bitcoin continuing to break records over the past few days. Other Shiba Inu-themed memecoins are enjoying highs too. Shiba Inu, or SHIB, is up 36% in the last seven days and Bonk is up 46%.