Elon Musk calls for ideas to upgrade dogecoin - and says he favors the meme-based cryptocurrency because of its satirical nature

• Elon Musk on Monday issued a call to developers to submit ideas for dogecoin upgrades.
• He said he preferred the digital asset because "doge has dogs & memes, whereas the others do not."
• Dogecoin has been criticized for its concentrated ownership by a small group of whales.

The billionaire Elon Musk on Monday posted a call to developers to submit ideas via GitHub and Reddit to improve dogecoin's technology, sending the meme-inspired cryptocurrency's price higher.

Dogecoin rose on Tuesday by 10%, to $0.35, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Dave Lee, a YouTuber and Tesla investor, asked Musk about his thoughts on ethereum 2.0, cardano, solana, polkadot, and iota and why he preferred dogecoin to them.

"Doge has dogs & memes, whereas the others do not," Musk said.

Musk has been a prolific backer of dogecoin and has hinted that the digital asset could be used as a form of payment for Tesla.

"Someone suggested changing dogecoin fees based on phases of the moon, which is pretty awesome haha," he said in a follow-up tweet to his call to developers.

While dogecoin has been criticized for its concentrated ownership by a small group of whales, it has soared by 7,000% so far this year. Musk has described the asset as his favorite cryptocurrency but recently told investors it would be unwise to invest too much in it.

Nascent digital assets have been overwhelmed by consumer demand while major crypto influencers like Musk inject uncertainty into the market, sending bitcoin and other tokens into chaos.

Bitcoin plummeted last week to about $30,000 after Tesla suspended bitcoin payments and China said digital tokens couldn't be used as forms of payment. Musk had appeared to sour on the cryptocurrency over its environmental impact.

But on Monday he said he'd met with leading bitcoin miners to discuss a plan to establish reporting standards and goals for mining. Bitcoin's price rose to over $39,000 but had fallen back to about $38,000 on Tuesday.

For a more in-depth discussion, come on over to Business Insider Cryptosphere — a forum where users can deep dive into all things crypto, engage in interesting discussions and stay ahead of the curve.

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