Elon Musk's Endorsement Extended Dogecoin Lifespan, Says Binance CEO: 'It Would Have Disappeared'

Changpeng Zhao, the CEO of cryptocurrency exchange Binance, expressed his surprise that Dogecoin DOGE/USD has managed to maintain a significant following, even after all this time. 

What Happened: Speaking during a “ask me anything” session on Twitter Spaces, Zhao said on Wednesday that he had expected the popular meme coin to have faded away long ago. However, he credited Tesla CEO Elon Musk with having played a role in extending dogecoin’s lifespan by promoting the coin.

“One meme coin that really surprised me was actually dogecoin. It has had a super long-lasting power. I thought it would have disappeared a long time ago. But Elon Musk latched onto it and extended its life maybe,” Zhao said.

Zhao also discussed the resurgence of meme coin speculation that has been impacting the crypto market. He admitted that he didn’t fully understand the appeal of meme coins, and stated a preference for tokens that have practical uses. “Right now it seems to be popular. But having said that, I do think there’s a very high risk.”

Nonetheless, Binance does list meme coins, including Pepe Coin PEPE/USD. “We tend to follow what our users are active at,” Zhao said.

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Why It Matters: A few weeks ago, CZ explained the meme coin listing process on Binance. He said the exchange evaluates coins based on their users' engagement, trading activities, and overall demand. “If a coin has a lot of users trading it, wanting it, playing with it, etc., then we’ll most likely list it. If the coin only lasts for two weeks, then we probably won't. But if it holds, then we probably will.”

This comes as a surprising twist in the cryptocurrency industry after Zhao reportedly unfollowed Tesla CEO Elon Musk on Twitter.

Price Action: At the time of writing, DOGE was trading at $0.073, down 1.78% in the last 24 hours, according to Benzinga Pro.

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