Elon Musk announced in a tweet that his space exploration company Space-X will launch the "DOGE-1 Mission to the Moon" in the first quarter of next year where he will accept the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment.
"SpaceX launching satellite Doge-1 to the moon next year – Mission paid for in Doge – 1st crypto in space – 1st meme in space", Musk said in a tweet.
"We're excited to launch DOGE-1 to the Moon! This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce" announced Geometric Energy Corporation without however disclosing the financial value of the lunar mission.
Last month, he tweeted that SpaceX was going to put a "literal Dogecoin on the literal moon".
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency established by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, two software engineers with an aim to create a payment portal that allows financial transaction which is instant, fun and free from traditional banking fees. Dogecoin has been a subject of memes as it displays the face of the Shiba Inu dog from the "Doge" meme in its logo as well as its name.
The once little-known cryptocurrency that was often subjected to ridicule in social media platforms rose to instant fame becoming the world's fourth-biggest cryptocurrency after Space-X founder Elon Musk made series of Tweets about it.
Dogecoin soared by more than 800% over the last month, with its total market value rising above $70 billion, according to cryptocurrency data tracker CoinGecko.com. however, on the "Saturday Night Live" comedy sketch TV show, Elon Musk called it a 'hustle' which led to Dogecoin losing more than a third of its price on Sunday.
Tesla Inc, an automobile company that manufactures electric cars, of which Elon Musk is the CEO, stated that it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its electric cars, which sent bitcoin soaring to a record high of nearly $62,000.