Dogecoin (DOGE) shot up in value late Thursday after Telsa CEO and billionaire Elon Musk briefly mentioned the meme coin’s name during a town hall meeting in Folsom, Pennsylvania on Thursday.

During the event at Ridley High School, an attendee asked Musk if he would head up a new “Department of Government Efficiency.” Musk responded with a lighthearted grin, “Yeah, Doge,” eliciting cheers and applause from the crowd. 

Dogecoin’s value has since climbed to $0.13 and is up more than 6.8% in the last 24 hours. Its market capitalization has also spiked to the tune of $19.3 billion, according to CoinGecko data. The asset is up more than 22% over the last seven days.

Musk’s playful mention of Dogecoin wasn’t entirely out of the blue—it came just weeks after Trump pitched a new initiative for cutting what he and Musk view as governmental waste.

In September, Trump proposed an efficiency commission headed by Musk, tasked with conducting a complete financial and performance audit of the entire federal government.

Musk publicly supported the idea, calling it an opportunity to unlock “tremendous prosperity for America.” While the idea is

The Doge community quickly interpreted Musk’s playful comment as another subtle endorsement of the coin, which has often rallied after his public statements.

Over the past seven days, DOGE has gained almost 22.9%, making the meme coin the top performer among the ten largest cryptos by market cap.

Musk attended the event, organized by Trump’s America PAC, to encourage voter registration in the Philadelphia suburbs ahead of the 2024 presidential election.

The billionaire’s involvement in Trump’s campaign goes beyond public endorsements. Through America PAC, a Super PAC supporting Trump and other Republican candidates, Musk has committed over $70 million to rally efforts ahead of the 2024 election. 

The Dogecoin rally points to the meme coin’s continued sensitivity to Musk’s public statements, as seen earlier in the week when he tweeted, “D.O.G.E. will fix it,” in response to California’s decision to block a SpaceX launch. 

While the tweet seemingly referenced the much-touted government efficiency department, the market viewed it as another deliberate connection between Musk’s humor and DOGE.

Created as a joke to parody Bitcoin in 2013, Dogecoin has since grown into a top-ten crypto by market cap, giving birth to iconic memes in the crypto community.

Although the meme coin remains down more than 80% from its 2021 peak, Musk’s support has given it staying power, with the meme coin frequently rallying after his tweets and public remarks.

Edited by Sebastian Sinclair