‘Government Efficiency’ meme coins lose value after Musk walks back cost-cutting plans

Tokens inspired by “efficiency” have become quite an expensive mess for investors.

Meme coins named after the nascent Department of Government Efficiency — an early-stage agency devoted to cost-cutting measures under the incoming Trump administration — plummeted Sunday.

One DOGE token, which formed in 2024 as a satirical take on government spending and bureaucracy, experienced a sharp 18% drop in value over the past 24 hours. See one trajectory below.

Source: CoinGecko

Another version of the coin, sporting a logo of a dog wearing a MAGA-like hat, also landed in the red at last check on Sunday, dropping by 20%.

Source: CoinGecko

The real DOGE — the actual coterie of business leaders set to eliminate bureaucratic waste — has sparked both intrigue and skepticism.

The agency, to be co-led by billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy, initially boasted that it could slash $2 trillion from the federal budget. This week, however, Musk revised his estimate, describing $1 trillion in cuts as “an epic outcome.”

Speaking on X, which he owns, Musk explained his vision: “If we try for $2 trillion, we’ve got a good shot at getting one. That would free up the economy, reduce inflation, and be, well, epic.”

Watch Stagwell’s CEO Mark Penn interview Elon Musk at CES! https://t.co/BO3Z7bbHOZ

— Live (@Live) January 9, 2025

The tokens inspired by the agency (whose name is an acronym for Dogecoin’s trading symbol) plummeted in value in the days following Musk’s comments.

“It’s very, very hard for people to care about spending someone else’s money,” Musk said, adding that federal regulations often render large projects illegal—or at least prohibitively expensive.

DOGE, as it turns out, isn’t technically part of the government and holds no actual power to cut spending or enforce policies. It intends to advise the White House on what to slash.

Tech journalist Kara Swisher, who has interviewed Musk in the past, wasn’t surprised by the Tesla CEO’s sudden downplaying of what the DOGE can accomplish.

“Typical Musk on more things than you think,” she said in a social media post. “Over bragging and then under delivering.”

Swisher cited other Musk-led initiatives (i.e., the Hyperloop, robotaxis, autonomous vehicles) as examples.

“The weird part is he is fully capable of delivering good stuff when he just shuts up,” she added.

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