Elon Musk took the Studio 8H stage over the weekend for his Saturday Night Live hosting debut and, as many expected, there was a lot of cryptocurrency talk.
The controversial tech mogul had fans and critics debating the choice to tap him as a host in the lead-up to Saturday’s episode. However, one of the biggest questions was whether or not he’d mention Dogecoin, the satirical cryptocurrency that has skyrocketed in the wake of his repeated online endorsements.
As it turns out, Dogecoin — and cryptocurrency in general — actually played a prominent role in the episode. Apart from a mention in his monologue, Musk appeared as a guest on Weekend Update to talk about Dogecoin’s popularity.
Musk played a financial expert named Lloyd Ostertag, who spoke with Michael Che about the meteoric rise in Dogecoin’s popularity and value.
After referring to himself as “the Dogefather,” Musk’s Ostertag did his best to explain Dogecoin to those unfamiliar with cryptocurrency.
“They’re a type of digital money, but instead of being controlled by a central government, they’re decentralized using block chain technology,” Ostertag shared. “Lately, prices have been soaring for cryptos like Bitcoin, Ethereum, and especially Dogecoin.”
As for Dogecoin itself, Ostertag explained that it “started as a joke based on an internet meme. Now it’s taken off in a very real way,” and that it “was created in 2013 and has a circulating supply of 117 billion coins, of which 113 billion have already been mined.”
In response, Che asked the question that was still on many people’s minds: “Right, cool, so what is Dogecoin?”
After repeatedly trying to get a clearer answer to no avail, Ostertag explained, “It’s the future of currency. It’s an unstoppable financial vehicle that’s going to take over the world.”
“Oh, so it’s a hustle?” Che said.
“Yeah, it’s a hustle,” Musk’s Ostertag said, shrugging in agreement, before yelling the battle cry of crypto-traders across the world: “To the moon!”
