Musk to Accept Dogecoin for Moon Exploration

Photo by CNBC

[Asia Economy Reporter Yujin Cho] SpaceX, the space exploration company operated by Tesla founder Elon Musk, has decided to accept the cryptocurrency Dogecoin as a payment method.

On the 9th (local time), according to US economic media CNBC, a private company called Geometric Energy plans to send a 40kg cubic-shaped satellite to the moon aboard SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket in the first quarter of next year, paying all related costs entirely in Dogecoin.

Geometric Energy announced the plan named 'DOGE-1 Lunar Mission' and stated that the mission aims to gather information about lunar space through onboard cameras, sensors, an integrated communication system, and computers.

Although Geometric Energy did not disclose the total cost of the project, it explained that the entire payment will be made in Dogecoin.

Tom Ochinero, Vice President of SpaceX, confirmed the plan and said in a statement that the 'DOGE-1' mission "will demonstrate that cryptocurrency can be applied beyond Earth's orbit and lay the foundation for interplanetary commerce."

Earlier, Musk tweeted on April 1st, April Fools' Day, that "SpaceX will literally put Dogecoin on the moon," which foreign media reported as a preview of this mission.

This announcement came just one day after Musk, who calls himself the 'Dogefather,' mentioned Dogecoin during his appearance on NBC's flagship comedy show 'Saturday Night Live' (SNL), after which the price of Dogecoin dropped.

On SNL, Musk joked, "Dogecoin is a hustle," causing the price to fall more than 30% below the $0.50 mark.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.