McDonald's joked that it would accept dogecoin at its restaurants only if Tesla accepted its 'grimacecoin'

• McDonald's says it will accept payment in dogecoin only if Tesla accepts "grimacecoin."
• Tesla CEO Elon Musk is urging McDonald's to accept the Shiba Inu-themed crypto as a form of payment.

McDonald's joked it would accept dogecoin for payment only if Tesla accepts "grimacecoin" as payment.

The fast-food chain was responding to Tesla CEO Elon Musk's tweet on Tuesday that he'd eat a Happy Meal on TV if McDonald's accepts dogecoin as a form of payment.

Grimace is a rotund purple character featured in some McDonald's marketing campaigns.

—McDonald's (@McDonalds) January 25, 2022

Musk is a long-running supporter of dogecoin — a Japanese Shiba Inu-themed cryptocurrency started as a joke in 2013. Earlier this month, Tesla began accepting dogecoin for some of its merch.

Musk's tweet about McDonald's on Tuesday sent dogecoin up nearly 8% to about $0.1445 at one point. It's still trading around this level, according to data from CoinMarketCap.

Hours after McDonald's made the grimacecoin joke, several Twitter accounts claiming to sell "grimacecoin" popped up on Twitter. However, McDonald's has not issued grimacecoins.

McDonald's did not immediately respond to Insider's request for comment.