Tesla starts accepting once-joke cryptocurrency Dogecoin
Tesla, the electric carmaker headed by billionaire Elon Musk, has started to allow people to buy brand merchandise using Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency initially started as a joke.
The move, which sent dogecoin prices 14% higher, comes a month after Mr Musk said Tesla would test out the digital token as a payment option.
An investor in the token, he has dubbed it the "people's crypto" and said his space company SpaceX would accept it as payment.
During an appearance on the humour show Saturday Night Live, after getting pressed to define it, he called it "a hustle".
Last year, Bitcoin prices jumped after Tesla said it had invested in the currency and would allow customers to buy cars with it. But the company later scrapped that idea.
Mr Musk, who also counts Bitcoin among his crypto investments, cited concerns about how much energy it takes to produce the currency.
