Shiba Inu Dogs Are In High Demand Thanks To Elon Musk, Dogecoin

The Shiba Inu breed of dogs is seeing high demand from dog lovers, courtesy Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk and meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin DOGE/USD.

What Happened: Musk’s announcement Friday on Twitter that his Shiba Inu dog will be named ‘Floki’ sent a wave of excitement among dog lovers and crypto enthusiasts, according to a report by Yahoo Finance. The Shiba Inu dog breed originated as a hunting dog from Japan.

See Also: How To Buy Dogecoin (DOGE)

The prices of Dogecoin-inspired cryptocurrencies, Shiba Inu SHIB/USD and Floki FLOKI/USD, skyrocketed on Friday following Musk’s tweet. Shiba Inu is a meme coin that brands itself as a “Dogecoin killer.”

The Yahoo! Finance report quoted long-time dog breeders Tom and Sandie Rolenaitis from Pennsylvania as saying that it was initially Dogecoin, the Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency, that captured the attention of dog lovers a couple of years ago.

The surge in demand for dogs during COVID-19 accelerated due to the rising popularity of the meme cryptocurrency this year.

The couple reportedly said that at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, they were receiving nearly 250 applications per month for their purebred Shiba Inu dogs. In a typical year, the couple breeds 2 litters, containing 3 puppies in each.

See Also: Are These Three Factors Keeping Dogecoin Distant From The Moon?

Why It Matters: Created mainly as a joke in 2013, Dogecoin has shot to prominence this year, in major part due to endorsement from Musk. The meme cryptocurrency’s year-to-date gains are an impressive 5,313.05%.

Doge, the classic meme behind Dogecoin, sold as a nun-fungible token (NFT) for $4 million in an auction earlier this month. The meme was put up for auction by Japanese nursery teacher Atsuko Sato, the owner of Kabosu, the female Shiba Inu that featured in the original meme.

Price Action: Dogecoin is up 2.3% during the last 24 hours, trading at $0.2567 at press time.