Elon Musk posts dogecoin memes on Twitter, prompting cryptocurrency price spike

'Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency,' Musk tweeted. 'It's pretty cool'

Elon Musk has taken to Twitter to promote a bitcoin-style cryptocurrency called Dogecoin.

The Tesla and SpaceX chief executive posted a satirical news article about "crazy imaginary internet money" and a meme with the caption "Dogecoin rulz".

He also changed his Twitter biography to read: "CEO of Dogecoin".

Mr Musk's promotion of the cryptocurrency appeared to trigger a huge price surge for the alternative cryptocurrency,

Shortly after he posted them, Dogecoin's market capitalisation surged by $70m (£53m) in less than an hour to take it to more than $400m (£303m). This came amid a price resurgence for bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

It marked its highest point since its value tumbled from above $750m last October.

At its peak in late 2017, Dogecoin was one of the world's most valuable cryptocurrencies with a market cap close to $2bn.

The cryptocurrency was originally conceived as a joke by Australian technologist Jackson Palmer, who revealed in 2014 that he never intended it to be taken seriously as an alternative form of currency.

It was inspired by the Shiba Inu dog from the doge meme that was popular in the early 2010's and soon gained a cult following among fans of the meme who helped use it to fund the Jamaican bobsled team at the 2014 Winter Olympics.

Mr Musk's enthusiasm for the cryptocurrency came after the official Twitter account for dogecoin posted an online poll asking who should be the CEO.

"We have listened to your concerns," the tweet stated. "We have decided that dogecoin does need a CEO. Someone who can lead us into the future while maintaining the core values if what we are."

Candidates listed in the poll included notable cryptocurrency figures Vitalik Buterin and Charlier Lee but Mr Musk came top with almost half of the votes.

In response to the poll, Mr Musk tweeted: "Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency. It's pretty cool."

He subsequently changed his Twitter bio to "Former CEO of dogecoin".