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- The Lorde Edge coin was launched Sunday and takes the name from Elon Musk’s new Twitter handle.
- The coin soared as much as 825% on its first day, hitting a high of $0.00002954.
- Lorde Edge is an anagram of “elder doge,” according to the creator of dogecoin.
Elon Musk has had an eventful few days on Twitter, even inspiring a new memecoin that quickly jumped in price on its launch day.
Over the weekend, the billionaire switched the name on his Twitter account to “Lorde Edge,” sparking a flurry of speculation about the reason behind the change, which the Tesla CEO didn’t provide.
Nonetheless, the so-called Lorde Edge coin began trading Monday and pulled in trading volume valued at nearly $27 million, according to data from CoinMarketCap.
The price hit a high of $0.00002954, representing an 825% surge from the opening price of $0.000003192. The token already appeared on more than 1,500 watchlists on CoinMarketCap. Lorde Edge coin’s price later declined to a low of $0.0.000002724 but has since moved up by 178%.
“We are LIVE and BOOMING! @elonmusk Lorde Edge is with us!,” claimed EDGELON, the community behind the ether-based coin, on a Twitter post Sunday.
There was no indication from Musk himself that he was taking part in the coin. He has previously said he’s invested in bitcoin, dogecoin and ether.
Billy Markus, the creator of dogecoin, on Twitter said on Sunday that Musk’s new user name is an anagram for “elder doge.” Then minutes later, Markus, who goes by Shibetoshi Nakamoto wrote: “This doesn’t mean it was intentional, but it is in fact an anagram.”
Musk – specifically his pet – was the inspiration behind a cryptocurrency called Floki Inu coin. It was named after Musk’s Shiba Inu dog, Floki, and the coin was at the center of a recent advertising campaign throughout the UK transportation system, according to a Financial Times report.
Regulators worldwide have urged investors to be cautious about investing in memecoins and other digital assets. In one case, a cryptocurrency inspired by Netflix’s hit show “Squid Game” soared by 75,000% as buyers jumped in. But links to its website and social media were dead last week, suggesting it was a scam.
Musk’s Twitter name change was part of a busy weekend for him on the social media site. On Saturday, he asked his 63 million Twitter followers whether he should sell 10% of his Tesla stock. More than half the 3.5 million votes in the poll were in favor of a sale.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives in a Monday note said it was already well known that Musk planned to sell some of his stock before the end of the year as he faces a “big tax bill” from his 23 million stock options awarded in 2012 that have vested and expire in August 2022.
But Musk selling 10% of his stake in Tesla shouldn’t cause concern over the stock, said Wedbush.