Tesla CEO and SpaceX founder Elon Musk must have been interested — or simply amused  – to follow the price of Dogecoin as his Saturday Night Live host gig neared.

The cryptocurrency value, at $.06 a month ago ramped up over the past week, reaching $.73 and holding on Saturday, but, like the Chinese space rocket, what goes up, must come down.

Hopeful investors holding Dogecoin saw the numbers fall as the broadcast progressed and likely were mulling their next move by noon ET on Sunday, when Dogecoin had lost 24% and was at $.49.

The meme-inspired crypto began as a joke but when Musk’s comments – coupled with those of Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban among others — brought it to the fore, many speculated on a significant rise in value.

As for “SNL” itself, Musk, who joked he was “The Dogefather” during promos for the show, had a sketch with his mother, Maye.

“I’m excited for my Mother’s Day gift,” Maye said, smiling. “I just hope it’s not Dogecoin.”

Later in the show, Musk – as “Weekend Update financial expert Lloyd Ostertag” —  was pushed to describe Dogecoin and ultimately was forced into using “hustle” as the best definition.

Benjamin Freed, tech editor with StateScoop, tweeted his amusement with Dogecoin: 

“All you need to know about the state of the U.S. economy is that for 90 minutes one night in May 2021, the value of a fake currency based on a dumb dog meme was susceptible to the whims of the Saturday Night Live writers’ room.”

Twitter engaged fans of Dogecoin before, during and after the airing, and YouTube hosted live streams that monitored Dogecoin price movements as SNL proceeded.

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