On April 3 (Monday), Elon Musk’s Twitter articulated their love for a popular internet dog by changing the platform’s iconic blue bird logo to “Doge”. However, the community wasn’t quite pleased with the action. Interestingly, many highlighted Musk’s intention to mask his ongoing lawsuit using this move. For those who are unaware, Doge is a much-loved meme that went viral over a decade ago.
"Elon Musk made everyone's twitter a doge because he got sued."
It features a very expressive female Shiba Inu (a popular dog breed of Japanese origin) named "Kabosu," who is owned by Atsuko Sato who adopted her in 2008.
The meme received numerous mentions among millennials who love Kabosu's adorable face. Back in 2013, software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer launched Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency created as a light-hearted payment system and a tribute to the dog. And, here’s where the ongoing fan complaints start.
“The story of his racketeering lawsuit will be buried” - Doge fans highlight the possible reason behind the recent Twitter logo change
With Twitter’s seemingly harmless symbol change, Dogecoin’s market value skyrocketed by 30%, taking its price to over $0.10 for the first time in several months - reportedly. Now, fans have seemingly found a reason why Musk made this move.
Back in 2022, multiple crypto investors slammed Elon Musk with a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit, claiming that the billionaire intentionally boosted the price to “operate and manipulate the Pyramid Scheme for profit, exposure and amusement”.
According to the plaintiffs, Musk deliberately drove the cryptocurrency's value by 36,000% over two years and then allowed it to drop, farming massive profits as a result.
On April 3, Musk and his team sought to end the lawsuit with a counter, stating that there is no evidence to prove the Tesla owner’s allegedly fraudulent intentions.
Considering the date of the lawsuit’s most recent hearing, netizens were quick to conclude that Musk has possibly used the logo change as a chance to “bury” search results on the internet regarding the lawsuit.
Many fans weren’t happy about Kabosu's “commodification” by crypto enthusiasts.
Another user pointed out that it may not be legal to be “profiting off of someone's pet without the owner's permission.”
“Calling it the crypto dog is gross”
While fans are trying to draw conclusions, Musk’s move may also be a harmless late April Fools prank.
That said, the actual intention behind the platform's logo change continues to be vague