On November 13, at 9:30 am, Trump released a statement announcing the appointment of Elon Musk to lead the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) to eliminate government bureaucracy, reduce overregulation, cut wasteful spending, and reorganize federal agencies. Subsequently, Musk also released the logo of the Department of Government Efficiency, stating "making government more fun."

From then on, a new government department named after a memecoin appeared on the American political stage. So where did the "DOGE" department come from?

The Origins of the "DOGE" Department

The Meme Coin Pioneer: DOGE

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) shares its name with the meme coin pioneer Dogecoin.

Dogecoin (DOGE), as the elder of meme coins, drew inspiration from the popular "Doge" meme (originally based on a Shiba Inu named Kabosu). Dogecoin was created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, aiming to create a fun and light-hearted cryptocurrency to satirize the hype in the cryptocurrency market at that time. Upon its launch, Dogecoin immediately gained immense popularity, receiving a warm welcome on sites like Reddit and being used for tipping.

Furthermore, Musk has a deep connection with Dogecoin. In April 2019, Musk tweeted that Dogecoin was his favorite cryptocurrency, finding Dogecoin "cool." In a May 2021 episode of "Saturday Night Live," Musk referred to himself as the "Dogefather" and called Dogecoin the "people's crypto." Over time, Musk has become closely associated with Dogecoin and even emerged as a public face of Dogecoin.

To date, DOGE has gone through four bull-bear cycles but still holds a strong position in the top ten cryptocurrency market caps.

However, today's main character is not DOGE but rather the government department named after DOGE, the "DOGE" department.

The Origin of D.O.G.E.

The story began on August 20th this year, when Trump announced that if elected president, he would appoint Musk to his cabinet or as a government advisor. Just as the outside world was speculating about Musk's potential position, the Twitter account Sir Doge of the Coin replied suggesting that Musk could lead the Department Of Government Efficiency, abbreviated as "DOGE." Subsequently, Musk noticed and retweeted this post, stating "That would be the perfect name."

From then on, the story of DOGE began to unfold as the election process progressed. On October 26th, in Pennsylvania, Musk likened the government's opaque financial expenditures to a swamp and mentioned, "We (DOGE) will be very open and transparent about what we are doing with the Government Efficiency department, what the issues are, and how the expenditures are calculated," "We are looking to reduce spending. If anyone has a better way to reduce spending, please let us know. But if we don't, we will go bankrupt. So, we must do something. And we must take some pretty significant steps."

Not only did Musk himself express his views on the "Department of Government Efficiency" in several speeches, but Trump also heeded Musk's advice. Trump stated in a speech on September 6th that he would establish the "Department of Government Efficiency" after being elected and have Musk lead the department's work.

With the mutual efforts of Trump and Musk, a wave of creativity and mass movements based on the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) background began to flourish. Americans began to realize the "importance of government efficiency," and social media was filled with condemnation of government resource wastage: "The U.S. Treasury Department reports that there were $24.5 billion in 'unverified transactions' in the past year," "Department of Agriculture employees misused government-issued credit cards, spending millions on concert tickets, tattoos, lingerie, and cars," "Transgender monkey study costs $33.2 million." Whether on X, ins, or TikTok, if you care about politics and the election, you can see a constant stream of works related to government efficiency. From then on, DOGE was not just connected to Dogecoin in name only; it became a powerful weapon and cultural symbol in the election process for Trump supporters to oppose the Democratic Party's financial opacity and government expenditure mismanagement.

The Biggest Alpha of This Bull Market: Musk Trade

During this cycle, the "Musk Trade" has proven to be particularly important. Unlike the "Trump Trade," which was more inclined towards the era of beta in the US stock market and crypto, the "Musk Trade" is almost the most explosive alpha post-election. Any cryptocurrency related to Musk, such as DOGE and PNUT, has taken the lead in the crypto market post-election.

DOGE

DOGE, as the largest market cap meme coin, is considered by most investors to have an oversized market cap, with lower cost-effectiveness compared to other "small-cap" meme coins. However, in the past 14 days, DOGE has achieved a 120% increase, with a 96% increase in the last 7 days. DOGE's outstanding performance is partly due to Musk's wholehearted support for Trump in the election, with the market generally believing that a Trump victory is a huge positive for Musk-related concepts. On the other hand, there is the potential benefit of Musk applying Dogecoin to the payment system. Additionally, it is worth noting that on November 3rd, Robinhood Crypto has enabled DOGE token transfers and deposits/withdrawals.

PNUT

The squirrel image of PNUT comes from a squirrel named "Peanut" adopted by an engineer named Mark 7 years ago. Mark often shared interaction videos between him and Peanut on social media and gradually gained hundreds of thousands of fans. However, nearby residents complained to the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation (DEC) that Peanut was carrying a contagious disease. Surprisingly, DEC raided Mark Longo's home without a search warrant and took Peanut away. Mark Longo then launched a petition on social media, with tens of thousands of fans signing. Unfortunately, Peanut was ultimately euthanized by DEC. After Peanut's euthanasia, Dogecoin posted condemning the Democratic Party, and Musk also mourned Pnut in a post, claiming that Trump coming to power would save Peanut.

This Peanut incident gradually evolved into a denunciation movement against the Democratic Party. At the same time, a large number of Peanut derivatives began to appear on the internet, such as "squirrels wearing MAGA hats staging a rebellion." Since then, the animal image represented by Peanut has evolved from just being an internet-famous meme to overlaying a buff with a "Trump" political color. Today, Musk tweeted, "America was saved by a squirrel and a meme coin," causing PNUT to briefly surge over 100%.

D.O.G.E

D.O.G.E is a meme coin named after the Department of Government Efficiency, which is based on Ethereum and shares its name with Musk's position. Today, following Trump's announcement of Musk's appointment, it saw a sharp rise in price. At its peak, it had surged by 10x, but it has since gradually retraced. D.O.G.E has similarities with the "MAGA" coin, and without further narrative support, it is likely to end up facing a "buy-the-rumor, sell-the-news" outcome similar to the "MAGA" coin.

In the development of the crypto space, Musk and DOGE have both been shining stars of Web3. Today, Musk has cleverly intertwined with D.O.G.E because of DOGE, adding a mysterious and unique color to both Musk's political career and the crypto world itself.

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