It's one of the most anticipated Saturday Night Live shows of all time, and it's not because a great actor is hosting. It's because Elon Musk is hosting, and those who cling to cryptocurrency are hoping he'll make them money.
Musk — along with Mark Cuban — has been the driving force of making Dogecoin top of mind, so the thought in the crypto community is that a mention or a skit on Doge could boost the currency.
"More people are aware of what’s going on and are looking to jump on the gravy train to make a quick buck," David Kimberley, an analyst for investing all Freetrade, told Reuters. "It’s very likely that Elon Musk pumping the coin … on primetime U.S. TV will only serve to compound things and push the price up."
Throughout the day and night, we are going to keep track of Dogecoin to see what happens to the cryptocurrency based on the momentum (or lack thereof) generated by Musk on SNL.
Dogecoin Price Tracker
8:10 a.m. Sunday: Final update — there was no post-show bounce for Doge despite the frequent mentions on the show. In fact, the price dipped even further, dropping to 42 cents this morning.
1 a.m. Sunday: The Weekend Update provided a turnaround for Doge, which ends up at 51 cent a share, down 14 cents from the start of the show — even though Doge people seemingly got the mentions they wanted.
12:25 a.m. Sunday: And now it’s time for the dream — a segment on Dogecoin on Weekend Update where the anchors ask incessantly of Musk, “What is Dogecoin?” Musk ends with his trademark “To the moon!” Is there a pop? Just a slight one. It's now at 50 cents.
12:16 a.m. Sunday: It’s “Weekend Update” on SNL, and for those who hold Doge, it’s not a good update. Doge is now at 48 cents and market cap is down to $69.7 billion. Yes, 46 minutes into Elon Musk’s hosting, Doge has lost $30 billion in market cap.
11:53 p.m. Saturday: Here comes the crash. Doge down to 55 cents. Market cap is now $72 Billion.
11:43 p.m. Saturday: End of Musk’s monologue, Doge hits!
Elon Musk’s mother: "I’m excited for my Mother’s Day gift. I just hope it’s not Dogecoin."
Musk: "It is."
Mention doesn’t lead to a pop. It’s down to 64 cents.
11:35 p.m. Saturday: Elon Musk doesn’t even star in the first five minutes and Doge goes from 64 to 70 cents a coin, yielding a change in market cap — from 82.9 billion to 90.7 billion!
10:55 p.m. Saturday: It’s been an unexpected difficult day in Doge land. Dogecoin is now down to 63 cents, nearly 30 minutes ahead of the opening monologue.
Did anyone really think it would be this easy?
Anyone else annoyed/confused as to why #doge keeps dipping the closer we get to #SNLdoge
— Tony A (@TUowlzFan) May 9, 2021
8 p.m. Saturday: Doge is having a lackluster day leading up to Elon’s appearance. At 64 cents a coin, it’s down 5.1 % over the past 24 hours.
Looking for movement? It’s either coming in an Elon or Miley tweet or from an audience member who attended the rehearsal, which finishes up roughly 30 minutes before the show goes live.
One complication? The rehearsal is two hours and they cut 30 minutes for the live show. If a Doge skit or mention is in, it’s not clear that it’s in the final cut unless an audience member who goes on social is an insider.
4:40 p.m. Saturday: Musk tweets for the first time today, and it could have Doge ramifications. SNL will live stream it’s show for the first time ever to more than 100 countries on YouTube. A Doge mention or skit is now more wide reaching in a market that will be trading live across the world.
Special link to view SNL outside USAhttps://t.co/egSDZ8sNFu
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 8, 2021
Betty White and Jay-Z's SNL on May, 8, 2010, is currently the most-watched version of the show since 2010 with 12 millions viewers. Jim Carrey and The Black Keys on Jan. 8, 2011, is second with 11.5 million viewers.
“It’s one of the most anticipated Saturday Night Live shows of all time…”
A look at the most watched SNLs since 2010 ahead of @elonmusk’s appearance tonight: https://t.co/2vBb6U1twYpic.twitter.com/56fFCDcora
— The Action Network (@ActionNetworkHQ) May 8, 2021
2:30 p.m. Saturday: Musk hasn't tweeted throughout the day. There's a sense, based on how this has all worked, that Doge is going to either go up to $1 or plummet tonight, depending on whether there's a skit or even a mention of it on SNL. Doge is falling. It's down to 65 cents.
12:55 am on Saturday: Dogecoin has hit its height of 74 cents. For context, on the day Musk was announced as host (April 24), it was at 28 cents (+164%).
