Tesla Billionaire Elon Musk has changed the Twitter logo, bidding goodbye to the signature bird logo, and replacing it with a parody cryptocurrency Dogecoin.
When you open the Twitter web, the loading screen will show the new Twitter logo of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu that inspired the Doge meme.
The dog also features on the website’s loading screen with the display picture of Twitter’s homepage also replaced by the same.
What is behind the new Dog icon?
The picture used is the symbol for Dogecoin and the change sent the price of the joke cryptocurrency soaring by 25pc.
Musk has been a repeated advocate of Dogecoin, tweeting about it and allowing owners to use it to pay for Tesla merchandise.
The digital currency was set up in 2013 as a parody of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Dogecoin was based on a then-popular doge meme, which featured a Shiba Inu dog surrounded by colourful comic text.
Despite its joke nature, the value of all dogecoin in circulation is more than $13bn. It climbed above $80bn in 2021 during a lockdown-fuelled boom in the value of most cryptocurrencies.
Elon Musk announced the new logo on Twitter by posting a screenshot of a conversation with the caption “as promised”.
The screenshot shows a conversation between Musk and a Twitter user “Chairman” with handle “@WSBChairman” where he suggested “just buy Twitter” and “change the bird logo to a doge”. To this, Musk responded saying “Haha that would sick”.
Mr Musk paid $44bn (£35bn) to acquire Twitter in October last year.
It is unclear how long Twitter intends to apply the change. After the logo was replaced on April 3, users speculated it was an April Fool’s joke that had been delayed by technical problems.
The logo change came days after Mr Musk sought to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Dogecoin investors, who claimed the Tesla billionaire had promoted Dogecoin in a cynical attempt to profit from its price rise despite allegedly knowing it had no value.
Mr Musk’s motion to dismiss the case said the claim was a “fanciful work of fiction that fails to state any actionable claim”.
It said: “There is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10bn.”
At Twitter, Mr Musk seeks to sign more users up for its “Blue” subscription service. The paid service provides a verification tick, which was once reserved for public figures and organisations.
Twitter is charging £9.60 a month, or £11 through its iPhone app, for individuals and a reported $1,000 (£800) a month for organisations.
Recently, the social network has removed the mark from several accounts that have opted not to pay, including the New York Times.
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