At 9:30 a.m. on November 13, Trump issued a statement announcing the appointment of Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate government bureaucracy, cut excessive regulation, cut wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies. Subsequently, Musk also released the logo of the Department of Government Efficiency and said that "it makes government more interesting."
Since then, a new government department named after memecoin has appeared on the American political stage. So where did the department "DOGE" come from?
The past and present of the department "DOGE"
The originator of meme coins: DOGE
DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency) has the same name as the ancestor of meme coins, Dogecoin (also commonly known as Dogecoin in Chinese).
Dogecoin (DOGE), as the elder of meme coins, was inspired by the popular "Doge" emoticon package (the prototype is a Shiba Inu named Kabosu). Dogecoin was created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer. At the beginning, they hoped to create a lighthearted cryptocurrency to satirize the hype in the cryptocurrency market at that time. Dogecoin immediately achieved great success after its launch, and was warmly welcomed on websites such as Reddit, and was also used as a reward tip.
At the same time, Musk also has a deep relationship with Dogecoin. In April 2019, Musk tweeted that Dogecoin is his favorite cryptocurrency and thinks Dogecoin is "cool." In May 2021, on the Saturday Night Live show, Musk called himself "Dogefather" and called Dogecoin "the people's cryptocurrency." As time goes by, Musk gradually becomes deeply bound to Dogecoin and even becomes the image spokesperson of Dogecoin in the public's perception.
To date, DOGE has gone through four bull and bear cycles, but it still sits firmly in the top ten of the cryptocurrency market capitalization.
However, the protagonist of today’s story is not DOGE, but the government department “DOGE” that has the same name as DOGE.
The origin of D.O.G.E.
The story began on August 20 this year, when Trump announced that if he was elected president, he would appoint Musk as a cabinet or government adviser. Just as the outside world was discussing Musk's position, the Twitter account of Sir Doge of the Coin responded that Musk could serve as the Department of Government Efficiency, abbreviated as "DOGE". Subsequently, this post attracted Musk's attention and he retweeted it, saying "This is a perfect name."
Since then, the story of DOGE has begun to unfold with the election process. On October 26, in Pennsylvania, Musk likened the government's opaque financial spending to a swamp, and said, "We (DOGE) will be very open and transparent, and will be very clear about what we are doing with the Department of Government Efficiency, what the problems are, and how the spending is calculated." "We want to reduce spending. If anyone has a better way to reduce spending, please tell us. But if we don't do this, we will go bankrupt. So, we have to do something. And we have to take some pretty big measures."
Not only did Musk himself express his views on the "Government Efficiency Department" in many speeches, but Trump also listened to Musk's advice. In a speech on September 6, Trump said that he would set up a "Government Efficiency Department" after being elected and that Musk would lead the work of the department.
With Trump and Musk running in both directions, secondary creations and mass movements with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) as the background are in full swing. Americans are beginning to discover the "importance of government efficiency", and social media is full of condemnations of the waste of government resources: "The U.S. Treasury Department reported $24.5 billion in "unchecked transactions" in the past year", "Department of Agriculture employees abused government-issued credit cards and spent millions of dollars on concert tickets, tattoos, underwear, cars and other personal items", "Transgender monkey research cost $33.2 million". Whether on X, ins or tiktok, if you care about politics and the election, you can see that works related to government efficiency are constantly emerging. Since then, DOGE is not just a simple name with Dogecoin, but also a powerful weapon and cultural symbol for Trump supporters to oppose the Democratic Party's financial opacity and chaotic government spending management during the election process.
The biggest Alpha in this bull market: Musk trade
In this cycle, the "Musk trade" is particularly important. Unlike the "Trump trade" which is more inclined towards the US stock and crypto era beta, the "Musk trade" is almost the most explosive alpha after the election. All cryptocurrencies related to Musk, such as DOGE and PNUT, have led the crypto market after the election.
As the meme coin with the largest market value, DOGE is considered by most investors to be too large and not as cost-effective as other "small-cap" meme coins. However, in the past 14 days, DOGE has achieved a 120% increase, and a 7-day increase of 96%.
The outstanding performance of Robinhood Crypto is partly due to Musk’s generous support for Trump in the election. The market generally believes that Trump’s victory is a huge boon to Musk’s related concepts. On the other hand, it is due to the potential benefits of Musk’s application of Dogecoin in the payment system. At the same time, it is worth noting that Robinhood Crypto has supported the transfer and deposit and withdrawal of DOGE tokens on November 3.
PNUT
The squirrel image of PNUT comes from the squirrel "Peanut" adopted by an engineer named Mark 7 years ago. Mark often shares interactive videos with Peanut on Instagram and gradually gains hundreds of thousands of fans. However, nearby residents complained to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) about Peanut, believing that it carries infectious diseases. What is puzzling is that DEC broke into Mark Longo's house without a search warrant and took Peanut away. So Mark Longo launched a petition on social media, and tens of thousands of fans signed and participated. Unfortunately, Peanut was eventually euthanized by DEC. After Peanut was euthanized, Dogecoin issued a post condemning the Democratic Party, and Musk also posted a post to mourn Pnut and declared that Trump's coming to power would save Peanut.
The Peanut incident gradually evolved into a campaign to denounce the Democratic Party. At the same time, a large number of Peanut secondary creations began to appear on the Internet, such as "Squirrels wearing MAGA hats to revolt." Since then, the animal image represented by Peanut has become more than just a meme of an Internet celebrity, and has begun to be superimposed with the political color of "Trump." Today, Musk tweeted that "America was saved by a squirrel and meme coins," causing PNUT to rise by more than 100% in a short period of time.
D.O.G.E
D.O.G.E. is a meme coin on Ethereum with the same name as the Department of Government Efficiency where Musk works. It surged after Trump released Musk's announcement today. The highest increase has been 10 times, but it has gradually fallen back. D.O.G.E. and "MAGA" coins have similarities. If there is no subsequent narrative support, it will eventually end up like "MAGA" coins, with a "good news realization means bad news".
In the process of Crypto development, Musk and DOGE are both shining stars of Web3. Now Musk is also cleverly linked with D.O.G.E. because of DOGE, adding a mysterious and unique color to Musk's political career and the crypto world itself.
