A three-word tweet saying “Don’t defy DeFi” was all it took to send the value of DeFi through the roof. DeFi believers have construed the tweet as an endorsement of the tokens because of Elon Musk’s habit of regularly tweeting about what he believes in. Tesla’s CEO was named the world’s richest man in 2021 and is a prominent figure in the cryptocurrency industry. His tweets sent Dogecoin on the strongest price run of its history, rising by over 1,000% to trade at $0.08495. Similarly, his tweet about Tesla accepting cryptocurrency payment for its cars also caused movement in the price of Bitcoin. The announcement in February that Tesla had purchased $1.5 billion worth of BTC opened the floodgate of institutional and corporate buy-in for Bitcoin, sending cryptocurrencies to new highs.
DeFi tokens such as Uniswap’s UNI, AAVE, and SUSHI were down by over 10% before the tweet. Some believe that Elon Musk’s tweet was intended to tease the struggling DeFi tokens. Musk’s usual communication style shows that light jokes are often his way of showing support.