Dogecoin Jumps as Musk’s Twitter Flips Logo to Shiba Inu Dog

A photo of Elon Musk is displayed on a smartphone placed on representations of cryptocurrency dogecoin in this illustration taken June 16, 2022. (Reuters)
A photo of Elon Musk is displayed on a smartphone placed on representations of cryptocurrency dogecoin in this illustration taken June 16, 2022. (Reuters)
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Dogecoin Jumps as Musk’s Twitter Flips Logo to Shiba Inu Dog

A photo of Elon Musk is displayed on a smartphone placed on representations of cryptocurrency dogecoin in this illustration taken June 16, 2022. (Reuters)
A photo of Elon Musk is displayed on a smartphone placed on representations of cryptocurrency dogecoin in this illustration taken June 16, 2022. (Reuters)

Dogecoin's Shiba Inu dog replaced Twitter's blue bird as the social media company's logo on Tuesday, helping the meme coin add as much as $4 billion to its market value.

The token, born as a satire of a cryptocurrency frenzy in 2013 and has no fundamental use, surged to 10 cents around 1500 EST from 7 cents as Elon Musk indicated in a tweet on Monday he had delivered on his promise of changing the social media app's logo to dogecoin's dog.

With a market capitalization of $13.7 billion, dogecoin is now the seventh biggest cryptocurrency, according to data site CoinMarketCap.com. Its market value stood at around $10 billion before the news.

Musk, who is ranked as the second-richest person in the world by Forbes, is a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies and has heavily influenced prices for dogecoin and bitcoin in the past.

The Tesla boss on Friday asked a US judge to throw out a $258 billion racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support dogecoin.

Dogecoin more than doubled in October after Musk, dubbed "the dogefather" by retail traders, sealed a $44 billion deal to take over Twitter in October.

The shiba inu token, a spinoff of dogecoin which trades in fractions of cents, rose 5.6% to $0.000014.



Albania Bans TikTok for a Year after Killing of Teenager

A view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 28, 2020. (AP)
A view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 28, 2020. (AP)
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Albania Bans TikTok for a Year after Killing of Teenager

A view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 28, 2020. (AP)
A view of the TikTok app logo, in Tokyo, Japan, Sept. 28, 2020. (AP)

Albania on Saturday announced a one-year ban on TikTok, the popular short video app, following the killing of a teenager last month that raised fears over the influence of social media on children.

The ban, part of a broader plan to make schools safer, will come into effect early next year, Prime Minister Edi Rama said after meeting with parents' groups and teachers from across the country.

"For one year, we'll be completely shutting it down for everyone. There will be no TikTok in Albania," Rama said.

TikTok did not immediately respond to a request for comment outside normal business hours.

Several European countries including France, Germany and Belgium have enforced restrictions on social media use for children. In one of the world's toughest regulations targeting Big Tech, Australia approved in November a complete social media ban for children under 16.

Rama has blamed social media, and TikTok in particular, for fueling violence among youth in and outside school.

His government's decision comes after a 14-year-old schoolboy was stabbed to death in November by a fellow pupil. Local media had reported that the incident followed arguments between the two boys on social media. Videos had also emerged on TikTok of minors supporting the killing.

"The problem today is not our children, the problem today is us, the problem today is our society, the problem today is TikTok and all the others that are taking our children hostage," Rama said.