Can You Buy a Tesla Vehicle With Dogecoin? DOGE Skyrockets

Time Magazine says that SpaceX and Tesla founder Elon Musk is the most influential person of 2021. In the cryptocurrency landscape, meme coin enthusiasts would agree. Musk has a habit of tweeting about assets like Dogecoin (DOGE) and causing them to skyrocket based on mass trading activity based on his sentiments.

Now, Musk says that he will dip his toes into Dogecoin adoption at Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) by allowing consumers to make some purchases with DOGE.

Musk tweeting something isn't inherently news, but it becomes newsworthy when the tweet says something crucial. In this case, he wrote that Tesla will start accepting payments for some products in meme coin Dogecoin, which he has been championing for years now.

According to Musk's tweet, "Tesla will make some merch buyable with Doge & see how it goes." This means that the DOGE payments option will be limited to Tesla merchandise and accessories, with products ranging in price from $50–$1,900.

Neither Tesla nor Musk have announced which merchandise will be included in the Dogecoin payments option.

The Tesla merchandise store features products like men's, women's, and kid's apparel, charging accessories, vehicle accessories, and myriad lifestyle products. The Cyberquad for kids, pictured above, runs for $1,900. An at-home charging wall connector costs $550. A men's Tesla hat goes for upwards of $35.

At just $0.19, the DOGE value isn't anywhere near that of Ether (ETC) or Bitcoin (BTC), but Musk can't seem to stray from its unique nature.

Tesla will accept DOGE for certain merchandise, but Musk didn't mention vehicle payments. That means anyone buying a Tesla car or truck will have to use fiat currency.

Earlier this year, Musk announced that he would start accepting Bitcoin as payment for Tesla vehicles, but he reversed the policy after just two months. He suggested that Bitcoin mining is bad for the environment and that it isn't efficient for transactions.

Dogecoin is a native coin, which means that it functions on its own blockchain. Dogecoin still uses an energy-intensive proof-of-work consensus mechanism. However, the creators are trying to shift to a more sustainable proof-of-stake consensus mechanism under the guidance of the Ethereum blockchain creator, Vitalik Buterin.

Whatever the case, paying for Tesla merchandise will require less DOGE than you would use to pay for a vehicle. Musk says that the Dogecoin blockchain is better for transactions, anyway.

Naturally, DOGE has swelled since Musk's tweet around dawn on Dec. 14. The cryptocurrency is up 18.86 percent in the 24 hours ending around 10:15 a.m. ET on the same day, with the vast majority of that growth occurring immediately after the tweet.

Meanwhile, TSLA stock has lost nearly 3 percent since the market close on Dec. 13, which shows a difference in sentiment between the different asset holders.

Musk's decision to start accepting DOGE for payment of certain merchandise is a sign that the founder is dipping his toes into the water again. He started hard and fast with the previous Bitcoin adoption but rolled back his crypto policies big time. Now, the tides are turning again—and this time, the meme coin is getting the spotlight.