Twitter’s logo has been changed to a crypto coin meme dog by controversy-stoking owner Elon Musk as he fights a lawsuit over the same virtual currency.
When users open up Twitter now, they’re greeted with the image of a dog as it loads.
The same dog, a Shiba named Kabosu in real life, has also replaced the Twitter logo in the top left of the social media giant’s homepage.
It is the logo of a cryptocurrency called Dogecoin - one Musk is currently scrambling to end a $258billion (£208) racketeering lawsuit over.
The Twitter owner asked a Manhattan federal court to dismiss the massive lawsuit he is facing over the cryptocurrency.
Plaintiffs claimed Musk peddled a pyramid scheme in the form of Dogecoin - with other accusations including wire fraud and gambling, it has been reported.
In Johnson v. Musk et al., filed in the Southern District of New York federal court, Musk’s lawyers filed a motion to dismiss.
Reuters reported that Musk’s lawyers are claiming that the lawsuit never actually specifies how Musk’s statements in favour of Dogecoin defrauded anyone, or what risks Musk hid from investors.
The lawyers said: “The Complaint is a fanciful work of fiction that fails to state any actionable claim against Defendants Elon Musk and Tesla and must be dismissed in its entirety with prejudice.
“Mr. Musk posted innocuous and often silly tweets about a cryptocurrency called ‘Dogecoin.’ But there is nothing unlawful about tweeting words of support for, or funny pictures about, a legitimate cryptocurrency that continues to hold a market cap of nearly $10 billion.”
Users of the social media platform couldn’t help but notice that Musk’s move to replace Twitter’s iconic blue bird with the dog coincided with the lawsuit against him.
The words 'Doge' and 'Dogecoin' both trended on Twitter.
Twitter's move has been great business for Dogecoin - since 5.30pm this evening, shortly before the dog appeared on Twitter’s website, the cryptocurrency’s value has rocketed and remains far higher than before.
Cryptocurrencies have come under increased scrutiny in recent months and years due to their volatility and the lack of protections for ordinary people investing - and often losing - their money.
Elon Musk’s time as chief tweeter has repeatedly hit the headlines after he first cut thousands of staff, before rolling out a verification system which was almost immediately backtracked due to issues around scammers and people impersonating others.
When the Mirror reached out to Twitter to ask about the recent change, the company’s press office responded with a poo emoji - this has been the automatic response to anyone trying to contact the press office for around a month now.
Following the most recent development, users of the website took to Twitter to complain.
One said: “Which came first? Elon sticking a doge image at the top of the homepage or Elon being sued for $258 BILLION in a racketeering lawsuit accusing him of running a pyramid scheme to support the cryptocurrency Dogecoin?”
Another joked about how Twitter’s mass redundancies have harmed its ability to operate in the past, with them calling recently departed staff back to help.
They tweeted: “Sorry I'm the twitter engineer responsible for putting the doge on here. it was supposed to be for april fools but got implemented late because elon kept on emailing us to make it "more epic" and we couldn't figure out what he meant”.
In the aftermath of the change, some users found retweeting and the 'For You' feed were “broken”.
Recently, Musk’s Twitter has come under criticism for its decision to uphaul its verification system.
It has removed the old system of blue ticks and instead now offers them to anyone willing to pay, raising fears of impersonation and identification issues.
