Elon Musk says US gov has 'no plans' to use Dogecoin; price drops 3%

The U.S. government currently has no plans to adopt Dogecoin, Elon Musk said Sunday.

"There are no plans for the government to use Dogecoin or anything as far as I know," Musk said during a town hall meeting hosted by the America PAC, which he created last year. 

On stage, the Tesla CEO explained that the name of the federal department came from suggestions on the internet, which led him to change the name from Government Efficiency Commission to DOGE.

"The names are similar, but they're doing two very different things," Musk said. "We're just literally trying to make the government 15% more efficient."

The initial announcement of the department name prompted market participants to speculate that its namesake memecoin would potentially be involved, especially as it came from Musk, a long-time proponent of Dogecoin.

Dogecoin's logo also briefly appeared on the department's official website following President Donald Trump's inauguration in January, further fueling speculation.

Dogecoin's price, which surged when the department was announced, fell 3.2% over the past 24 hours to change hands at $0.16, according to The Block's Dogecoin price page .

The Department of Government Efficiency has targeted over a dozen U.S. government agencies, including the U.S. Agency for International Development and the Internal Revenue Service, both of which have begun layoffs on the scale of thousands.

However, the cost-cutting department has also faced backlash after making several errors during the extensive government layoffs, and has been hit with dozens of lawsuits.

According to its official website, DOGE claims it has saved the U.S. government a total of $130 billion, or about $807 per taxpayer.