Daily US Times: Space X founder Elon Musk has said his rocket company will now accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment.
He said in a tweet that the commercial space exploration firm will launch the “DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon” early next year.
It came as dogecoin continued to fall after the tech billionaire said on television that it was a “hustle”.
Musk tweeted last month that SpaceX was going to put a “literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”.
Earlier on Sunday, Canada’s Geometric Energy Corporation announced the dogecoin-funded mission, although the statement did not reveal its financial value.
SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero was quoted as saying in the statement: “This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.”
The tech entrepreneur tweets in recent months have helped to turn the once-obscure digital currency, which was started as a social media joke, but now became the world’s fourth-biggest cryptocurrency.
Over the last month, it has soared by more than 800%, with its total market value rising above $70bn, according to CoinGecko.com, a cryptocurrency data tracker.
However, on Sunday, dogecoin lost more than a third of its price, after Elon Musk called it a “hustle” while he was hosting the Saturday Night Live comedy sketch television show.
In February, electric carmaker Tesla said it bought $1.5bn worth of bitcoin and was planning to accept the cryptocurrency as payment for its vehicles. Mr Mr Musk is chief executive of Tesla.
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