Dogecoin inventor takes a swipe at “self-absorbed” Elon Musk
Dogecoin co-creator Jackson Palmer has given “self-absorbed” Elon Musk both barrels in response to the Tesla boss’s continued social media mischief with cryptocurrencies.
Palmer, who devised Dogecoin as a joke with Billy Markus seven years ago, blasted the billionaire after he sent markets crashing with an announcement that Tesla would no longer accept Bitcoin as payment.
Musk, who had previously sent Bitcoin soaring with numerous tweets of support for the flagship cryptocurrency, expressed a sudden concern over the digital asset’s environmental impact.
READ MORE: Bitcoin rocked by Elon Musk’s Tesla announcement
Palmer, however, appeared to be having none of it as he signalled his disdain in a clearly exasperated tweet.
“Reminder: Elon Musk is and always will be a self-absorbed grifter,” he pointedly said, before adding “removing this in 1 min as that’s all I have to say and I enjoy the quiet life.”
The Australian wasn’t done there, though. He then took one final swipe at the self-appointed ‘Dogefather’ over last week’s hosting debut of Saturday Night Live.
“ps. SNL episode was cringe, bro,” he snapped.
Dogecoin’s value plummeted following the South African entrepreneur’s appearance on the US variety show. Doge fans had been buying up the coin in the lead up to the appearance as they anticipated a price spike would be caused if Musk mentioned it.
READ MORE: Doge dumps hard as fans cash out after Musk’s SNL debut
He did, but the shameless plug fell flat. Instead it triggered a massive sell-off, before another tweet from Elon Musk saying “Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising” nudged its value up again.
Three years ago, developer Jackson Palmer confessed Dogecoin was created to poke fun at the raft of altcoins that were flooding into the cryptocurrency markets.
He described Doge as a complete “p**s take” before giving all his coins away to charity.
“Back in the day, I had a few million Dogecoin, which was nothing,” he said at the time.
“It was like five or ten grand’s worth. And I gave it all away to charities that we were supporting early on.
“I thought ‘how long can it last?’- I was about a month into it and I thought Dogecoin can last maybe a couple of months, people aren’t going to remember it anymore in a year, why would I hold onto it? So, sadly, I have no Dogecoin.
“Unlike most people who have created cryptocurrencies, I’m not some baller getting around in a Ferrari.
“The joke is on me, firmly. That being said I feel like I’d be a bit of a hypocrite if I was like some rich crypto guy off the back of a joke that was me poking fun at crypto.”