2022 continues to be a year of surprises, with one of the biggest so far being Elon Musk’s decision to acquire social media juggernaut Twitter for a whopping $44 billion. While the takeover has set into motion a whole host of debates — particularly those pertaining to Big Tech censorship — it has also called into question the future of Dogecoin (DOGE), a digital currency of which the billionaire has been a big proponent over the last couple of years.

To put things into perspective, just hours before Musk tweeted that “the bird is freed” on Oct. 27, the price of DOGE was hovering around $0.07. However, by Nov. 1, it had surged to $0.16, bringing the total market capitalization of the so-called memecoin to a sizable $21 billion. And while DOGE is currently trading close to $0.08, its 30-day profit ratio is greater than 40%.

It is also worth noting that every time Musk has tweeted in support of the digital asset, its value has skyrocketed quite dramatically. For example, throughout 2021, he continued to refer to DOGE as the “people’s crypto,” a message that sent the currency’s value flying by a whopping 4,000% over the course of the year.

Moreover, Tesla — an American multinational automotive and clean energy company helmed by Musk — started accepting DOGE as payment for its merchandise in January 2022, including its “Giga Texas” belt buckles and miniature vehicle replicas. Furthermore, Musk’s recently released joke fragrance, Burnt Hair, could also…