Elon Musk says the US government has "no plans" to use Dogecoin

Despite Elon Musk’s well-known support for Dogecoin, the tech billionaire said on Sunday that the federal government has no intention of adopting the dog-themed cryptocurrency for official use.

“There are no plans for the government to use Dogecoin for anything as far as I know,” Musk said during a town hall in Wisconsin, shutting down speculation that the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) might incorporate the cryptocurrency into federal operations.

The idea wasn’t completely baseless. In February, the official DOGE website briefly featured the Dogecoin logo — the iconic Shiba Inu named Kabosu giving a side eye — sparking excitement among crypto investors who believed the agency might be tied to the token. Musk has also floated the idea of integrating blockchain technology into other federal departments, even suggesting the U.S. Treasury could process all transactions on a blockchain.

But over the weekend, Musk clarified that there’s no connection between the cryptocurrency and the federal agency bearing the same acronym.

“The names are similar, but they’re doing two very different things,” he said.

The White House declined to comment when asked by Fortune.

The concept for the Department of Government Efficiency originated during Donald Trump’s campaign as part of a broader plan to reduce federal spending and overhaul the structure of government agencies. Trump announced that Musk would lead the department, which has since played a central role in the administration’s sweeping efforts to cut federal staffing.

Musk has long been an outspoken Dogecoin advocate, famously dubbing himself the “Dogefather” on Saturday Night Live in 2021 and joking that he’d like to become the coin’s CEO. His frequent endorsements of Dogecoin even prompted a class-action lawsuit accusing him of manipulating its price for profit. However, the case was dismissed last year, with the court ruling that Musk’s statements amounted to “puffery” — a legal term for exaggerated claims not meant to be taken as binding promises.

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