The price of Dogecoin has doubled in the last month amid rumors that it could soon be integrated into Elon Musk’s X platform.

The tech billionaire, who is a vocal proponent of the meme-inspired cryptocurrency, had previously spoken of his plan to develop an “everything app” that includes messaging, marketplaces and online payments.

On Monday, he shared an animation by X user DogeDesigner showing his former payments platform X merging with the social media app he acquired in 2022.

“The circle will close,” he commented.

In January, X opened a special payment account after securing a license to transfer money in the United States.

Both SpaceX and Tesla already support Dogecoin payments, while previous comments from Mr Musk have led to price spikes for the cryptocurrency.

Mr Musk, who claims to own an undisclosed amount of Dogecoin, said in 2021 that he believed it had the potential to become a major online currency due to its ease of use and efficiency.

He also said it could become the official currency on Mars if SpaceX succeeds in establishing a permanent human colony there.

“The most entertaining outcome is often the most likely,” Mr Musk said during a question-and-answer session on the app Clubhouse in 2021. “Probably the most entertaining and ironic outcome would be that Dogecoin becomes the currency of the Earth in the future.”

These comments, along with prominent support during his appearance as host of Saturday Night Livehelped Dogecoin reach a record price of over $0.70 this year.

The recent price increase for Dogecoin came amid a record-breaking run in the crypto market, with Bitcoin hitting a new all-time high this month.

The meme-inspired cryptocurrency rose above $0.17 on Monday, pushing its total market cap above $25 billion.

The price increase means that Dogecoin is now the eighth most valuable cryptocurrency in the world, overtaking Cardano (ADA) and Avalanche (AVAX) in recent days.

Despite the big gains, Dogecoin accounts for less than 0.1 percent of the total crypto market, which rose to over $2.5 trillion over the weekend following modest price increases in Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

The price of Dogecoin was boosted by rumors that Elon Musk plans to integrate the cryptocurrency as a payment method for X (formerly Twitter).