May 8 will go down as an important day in the history of cryptocurrency, as Dogecoin DOGE/USD hit an all-time high. The date also coincided with a rare appearance by a businessman on the sketch comedy show “Saturday Night Live.”
What Happened: Tesla Inc TSLA CEO Elon Musk hosted an episode of “Saturday Night Live” on May 8, 2021. The episode aired on NBC, a unit of Comcast Corporation CMCSA and could also be seen in many international markets on YouTube, a unit of Alphabet Inc GOOGGOOGL.
During the episode, Musk played the role of financial expert Lloyd Ostertag, who shared some educational facts about cryptocurrencies with “Weekend Update” host Michael Che.
“They’re a type of digital money but instead of being controlled by a central government, they’re decentralized using blockchain technology,” Musk as Ostertag told Che of cryptocurrencies.
Ostertag asked to be called the “Dogefather” in the skit, and later explained what Dogecoin was to Che.
“Well, actually it started as a joke based on an internet meme. But now it’s taken over in a very real way.”
As Che and “Weekend Update” co-host Colin Jost continued to ask Ostertag to further explain Dogecoin, he shared more about the role the crypto would play.
“It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world. To the mooooon!”
Lloyd Ostertag stopped by the desk to talk cryptocurrency. pic.twitter.com/cuILxOBJlj
— Saturday Night Live - SNL (@nbcsnl) May 9, 2021
One item that might have caught viewers by surprise was Ostertag answering yes when asked if Dogecoin was a hustle.
Dogecoin hit an all-time high of $0.7375 prior to the episode airing and quickly fell after Musk’s appearance, even after directly mentioning Dogecoin by name.
Related Link: 2021 Was The Year Of Dogecoin: A Month by Month Retrospective With Top Stories
What Happened Since: The “SNL” episode featuring Musk remains the ultimate high-level mark for Dogecoin in terms of price. The coin has never gotten close to the $0.7375 it saw prior to the episode. Many have singled out the event as being the top for the coin.
Shares of Tesla have performed quite well since Musk’s appearance. While it was mentioned that Musk helped change the electric vehicle industry during the episode, the Tesla name was less featured than Dogecoin.
Tesla shares dropped slightly in June and July 2021, before going on a massive run to hit all-time highs of $1,243.49 in November 2021. Tesla shares now trade at $865.65 and remain up 25% since Musk’s “SNL” appearance one year ago today.
The “SNL” episode hosted by Musk was the third highest viewed episode of Season 46 with 7.3 million viewers. It only trailed the episodes hosted by former cast members Dave Chappelle and Chris Rock.
Musk remains the richest man in the world, with a current wealth of $247 billion, according to the Bloomberg Billionaire’s Index.
Recently, Musk announced he would acquire social media platform Twitter Inc TWTR for $54.20 per share. Coincidentally, the acquisition was mocked on a recent episode of “SNL.”
Price Action: Dogecoin trades at $0.1255 at the time of writing, down 83% from all-time highs.
Photo: Created with images from Brian Bald and TED Conference on Flickr
© 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.
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