Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk took to Twitter on Tuesday to tempt fast-food giant McDonald's into accepting the meme cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE). In a tweet that quickly went viral, Musk stated he would eat a McDonald's Happy Meal on live television if the company would integrate Dogecoin as a payment method.
The Offer and Market Reaction
“I will eat a happy meal on television if McDonald’s accepts dogecoin,” Musk tweeted. As of writing, the post has been retweeted 34,300 times and received over 229,100 likes. The proposal sparked widespread excitement among crypto enthusiasts, with many vowing to eat at McDonald's more frequently if the move materializes. Some even asked McDonald's to consider other coins like Shiba Inu (SHIB).
Following the tweet, Dogecoin's price spiked from $0.1359 to $0.1496, a gain of more than 10%, according to Bitcoin.com Markets data. However, the meme coin later gave back some of those gains, settling at around $0.1419 at press time.
McDonald's Playful Response: 'Grimacecoin'
The official McDonald's Twitter account responded with a witty retort: “Only if Tesla accepts grimacecoin.” Grimace is a purple, fluffy character from the McDonaldland advertising universe. This is not the first time McDonald's has engaged with crypto Twitter; the company recently pinned a tweet asking, “how are you doing people who run crypto Twitter accounts,” which became a meme template during price declines.
Musk, who was named Time Magazine's Person of the Year in 2021, has long been a vocal Dogecoin advocate, often referred to as the Dogefather in the community. He has stated that he personally holds Dogecoin and believes it is the people's cryptocurrency, particularly suited for transactions, while Bitcoin is better as a store of value. Tesla itself began accepting Dogecoin for select merchandise just last week.
The exchange underscores the powerful influence social media personalities have on meme coin markets, even when the responses are purely humorous. While 'Grimacecoin' remains a fictional concept, some community members have already attempted to launch real tokens under that name.