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- Elon Musk is looking at adding a payments system to Twitter, according to the Financial Times.
- Dogecoin climbed as much as 10% on speculation the meme coin could be a part of Twitter's revenue stream.
- Dogecoin has surged more than 30% so far in 2023 amid a broader crypto rally.
Dogecoin soared Tuesday following a Financial Times report that Elon Musk is looking at adding a payments system to Twitter, fueling speculation the company could incorporate the altcoin into his social media site.
In its aim to create a new revenue stream for the platform, Twitter has started applying for regulatory licenses and designing the software needed to introduce payments on the system, the report said.
A team at Twitter is also creating a vault for safely storing user data that a payment system would collect, sources told the FT.
Allowing payments on Twitter is key for the company as its advertising business of $5 billion a year has been hit since Musk bought Twitter in October, with marketers citing concerns about management and content moderation.
Musk has been a high-profile buyer of dogecoin and previously has pushed for its as a payments vehicle. The prospect that it could be a payments option on Twitter sent the meme coin jumping much as 10% to an intraday high of $0.095655. The gain was later pared to 7%. It was outperforming the bulk of the 10 top most-traded coins during Tuesday's session.
Tuesday's gains for dogecoin extended the meme coin's price advance in January, heading toward a 35% surge in the first month of 2023.
The move comes amid a broader rally in crypto markets after a dismal 2022. Bitcoin is up almost 40% in January, and is set for the best month since October 2021.
The total value of the crypto market regained $1 trillion last week for the first time since FTX's collapse. Investors are warming to risk assets as cooling inflation fuels hopes for the Fed to pull back on rate hikes.