Dogecoin, the somewhat satirical cryptocurrency based on a Shiba Inu dog, has become relevant this year, mainly thanks to the support of Tesla billionaire Elon Musk.

The price of dogecoin, up 10,000% in the past 12 months, has defied its critics and managed to hold onto most of its skyrocketing gains, even as the larger bitcoin and crypto market collapses .

Now, as memes master Elon Musk takes a break from promoting his animal project on Twitter, Sam Bankman-Fried, the billionaire CEO of the FTX cryptocurrency exchange, has said the dogecoin is “l asset of the year for 2020 and 2021 “.

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“Do you know how Time has his person of the year? If there is an Asset of the Year for 2020 and 2021, it would be dogecoin, ”Bankman-Fried said, speaking on The Jax Jones and Martin Warner Show podcast.

“[Dogecoin] is the asset that faithfully reflects our current economic climate, “Bankman-Fried said.”[Dogecoin] is the asset we all have chosen, that we all deserve, for better or for worse. I’m not saying that as an approval or an anti-approval, I’m not trying to take a position on it. “

Dogecoin, created as a “joke” in 2013, has skyrocketed since January to become one of the world’s most valuable cryptocurrencies, with a market cap of around $ 37 billion. By comparison, bitcoin’s market cap is currently around $ 650 billion.

The price of Dogecoin surged as traders and investors crammed into so-called memes stocks such as Gamestop and AMC, with prices rising far exceeding traditional valuations for these assets.

“I think when you look at what happened on Gamestop, the only surprising thing was that it wasn’t a cryptocurrency, because this pattern happens all the time in crypto, it’s not unusual. “said Bankman-Fried. The price of dogecoin jumped higher in January after the Robinhood stock trading platform placed restrictions on Gamestop.

“By the time Robinhood banned the purchase of GameStop, hundreds of millions of dollars were instantly poured into dogecoin,” Bankman-Fried said. “It showed that if we all get together on social media and decide with our collective imagination what this thing is valued at.”

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Meanwhile, Tesla and SpaceX chief executive Elon Musk has played an outsized role in helping dogecoin reach its very high current valuation. Musk has spoken about the memes-based cryptocurrency on several occasions, calling on developers to submit upgrade ideas and planning to put “a literal dogecoin on the literal moon” via one of SpaceX’s rockets.

Musk’s dogeoin support, something he himself said is not something that should be taken seriously, has alienated much of the bitcoin community in recent months, with much resentment towards the attitude. Musk’s nonchalant towards bitcoin.

“Elon is a powerful part of it, he’s actually the most influential man in the world when it comes to financial assets right now,” Bankman-Fried said.

“Everyone kind of knew they would choose dogecoin. And we chose Elon. We signed up for that. We signed up for some conscious mockery, for some sense of humor, and for some lots of tough standards and well say what makes your thing better than dogecoin? “