Both the president-elect of the United States of America, Donald Trump, and the billionaire Elon Musk are fans of cryptocurrencies, and the newly created American Department for Government Efficiency – Doge for short – is a reference to this, writes the BBC. Immediately after the announcement that Musk will lead this Department, he confirmed on “X” that the abbreviation “Doge” was not a coincidence and the idea came from a joke he made earlier this year on his social platform.
The acronym is also used by Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency created in 2013 by two software developers – Billy Markus from Oregon and Jackson Palmeri from Sydney.
The cryptocurrency was named after an internet ‘meme’ featuring a Shiba Inu dog named “Doge”. In 2021, Musk referred to Dogecoin as “the people’s crypto” – which boosted its value. The Tesla boss was sued after being accused of deliberately trying to inflate the price of the cryptocurrency to make money, though his lawyers dropped the suit earlier this year. Dogecoin’s price often rises when Musk mentions it publicly — though there has been no significant movement since Trump announced the billionaire’s new position.