When Elon Musk tweeted that SpaceX would put a 'literal Dogecoin on the literal moon' it was April 1st...but it seems it was no April Fool's joke.
The unconventional CEO has confirmed in another tweet that his company is launching the satellite 'Doge-1' mission to the moon next year, with the commercial rocket company accepting the meme-inspired cryptocurrency dogecoin as payment.
Dogecoin was launched as a parody of more mainstream cryptocurrencies.
Its logo features the Shiba Inu dog at the center of the meme that inspired the currency - and it remains little used in commerce or payments.
Like other digital coins, dogecoin's price is heavily influenced by social media users.
But some market players say its volatility was its main draw.
Musk's announcement came as dogecoin lost more than a third of its price after the technology billionaire said on television that it was a "hustle".
The Tesla chief's often cryptic tweets this year turned the digital currency - which originally started as a joke - into a speculator's dream.
Musk has referred to Dogecoin as "the future of currency'' and ''an unstoppable financial vehicle that's going to take over the world."
He has also criticized regular cash for having negative real interest rates.
On crypto data tracker CoinGecko.com, dogecoin has jumped more than 800% over the last month and is now the fourth-largest digital currency, with a market capitalization of $73 billion.
Tesla said in February it bought $1.5 billion worth of bitcoin and would soon accept it as a form of payment for its electric cars.
Musk's latest tweet regarding the SpaceX mission did not disclose the financial value of the trip.
But SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero said the mission will ''demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.'''
