The participation of billionaire and Tesla boss Elon Musk in Saturday Night Live once again shed light on the cryptocurrency of the moment: Dogecoin. Created as a joke, it no longer makes certain specialists laugh who ask to stop "the madness". Elon Musk wants him to use the Dogecoin to… fund a mission to space.

Here is what Billy Markus, one of the creators of Dogecoin, recently told the high-tech news site Cnet. Digital currency started in 2013 as a joke to poke fun at the phenomenon of cryptocurrencies, and especially bitcoin. The community, which took as its symbol a Japanese dog, the Shiba Inu, quickly grew, fueled by the hopes of winning and the tweets of Elon Musk.

Google searches for Dogecoin have overtaken those for Bitcoin ...

On several occasions, Tesla's whimsical boss has unsheathed his keyboard and tweeted about Dogecoin. He touched on this theme again during his appearance on Saturday Night Live, NBC's famous comedy show, on May 8.

During a sketch where we keep asking the question “what is Dogecoin?” Elon Musk ended up giving an answer that caused a lot of talk: “it's a financial vehicle impossible to stop who is going to conquer the world. " Before launching, euphoric: "Forward to the Moon!"

But what is Elon Musk playing?

On the same day, Dogecoin hit a record breaking 70 cents mark. Cryptocurrency, whose price has fluctuated at less than a cent for the vast majority of its existence, has experienced a phenomenal boom in recent months.

Today, it is the fourth largest cryptocurrency in terms of capitalization. This May 10 at 3:20 p.m., the latter exceeded $ 65 billion. That's a far cry from the more than $ 1,000 billion in bitcoin ... but enough to interest many investors.

Be careful, however: while cryptocurrencies are notably known for their volatility, Dogecoin is particularly concerned. And the scrambled communication from its main ambassador does not help.

Right after renting the Dogecoin, Elon Musk called the cryptocurrency a "scam", laughing out loud. Humor? Either way, the effects were being felt, with Tesla's CEO protrusion causing prices to drop. According to Naeem Aslam, analyst at Avatrade, it was enough for "speculators to drop the money."

On the side of Oanda, famous currency converter, another analyst did not mince words, Jeffrey Halley. “Someone who bought Dogecoin before SNL suffered a 40% loss after the broadcast. On the other hand, if you're stupid enough to gamble a lot of your savings on childish tweets and a humorous program, you probably deserve what happens to you, "said the specialist.

According to the expert, "there is room for a few protocols to survive", but "there are thousands of coins, and doge is in this category, which are really useless, it's just utility tokens that have no underlying value or use case and they will eventually disappear. ”

Same story with Akand Sitra, head of strategy for the cryptocurrency risk management platform TRM Labs, quoted by Yahoo! Finance. The latter believes that "the scam is simple": "Hold on the Dogecoins until there is enough traction, then sell everything, cash in, and instantly become a billionaire."

Dogecoin, to infinity and beyond !

Analyzes that strongly contrast with Elon Musk's statements. While he said earlier this year that his messages on Dogecoin were "just jokes," he also called the controversial digital currency "people's crypto," "no high, no low, only the Doge."

The boss of Tesla is also the founder of SpaceX, a famous company specializing in astronautics and special flights, which recently made headlines in France by sending astronaut Thomas Pesquet into space. From there to making a connection with the Dogecoin, it was necessary to Elon Musk. SpaceX announced on May 9 that it will launch a satellite fully paid for with cryptocurrency to the moon next year at the Shiba Inu.

In the meantime, Dogecoin has recovered after its mini-crash. This May 10 at 4:03 p.m., it is moving at a price close to $ 0.5, an increase of 1.38% over 24 hours, according to the specialized site Cryptoast. It remains to be seen whether Elon Musk and SpaceX will manage to send him… to the moon.