A London-based senior manager at Goldman Sachs has quit the bank firm after making millions from Dogecoin. According to sources, Aziz McMahon, a managing director and head of emerging market sales, has resigned after making huge amounts of money from investing in the cryptocurrency.
Dogecoin started as a joke digital asset based on the popular “Doge” internet meme. The coin has seen a huge surge in value this year of over 1,000% following backing from the likes of Snoop Dogg, Gene Simmons and, most prominently, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.
While it is not known exactly how much McMahon made from Dogecoin. His resignation was first reported by the website efinancialcareers, with the banker not responding to requests for comment. The same website has suggested that Aziz has started his own hedge fund.
A spokesman for the investment bank confirmed Aziz’s resignation, though claimed that he had no knowledge of the Dogecoin investment. Aziz had been at Goldman Sachs for 14 years. According to sources, Aziz was not involved in cryptocurrency trading at Goldman Sachs and invested his own personal money into Dogecoin.
The Rise of DOGE
Dogecoin was initially started as a parody of Bitcoin back in two 2013. It was created by two software engineers from IBM and Abode. However, recent times have seen the cryptocurrency soar in value alongside other altcoins. Dogecoin’s rise has been partly attributed by traders aiming to continue the joke by boosting its value.
One of the chief drivers in value has been Elon Musk, who has regularly tweeted in support of the coin. The digital asset rose above $0.72 against the dollar last week prior to Musk’s appearance as guest host of Saturday Night Live. According to Coindesk, Dogecoin has a current market capitalization of $65.8 billion, more than the likes of Ford and Twitter.
Aziz is among several investors who have amassed huge fortunes from the cryptocurrency. Many early buyers are believed to have seen big profits following the asset’s recent rise, with one anonymous owner believed to hold more than $2 billion worth of Dogecoin.
Doge’s rocketing popularity among private investors comes as investment banks show growing interest in cryptocurrencies. Goldman Sachs, for example, opened a Bitcoin trading desk just last week, despite making a decision in 2018 to stay out of the market.
Down This Week
Despite DOGE’s huge rise throughout this year, the cryptocurrency was down 30% since Musk’s appearance on SNL. During his appearance on the show, Musk referred to the cryptocurrency as a ‘hustle’, inadvertently sending its price down. Musk tweeted a poll on May 11 asking users whether they wanted Tesla to accept DOGE, following the announcement in March that the company would accept Bitcoin payments.
However, on Wednesday Musk tweeted a sudden change of heart, stating that the electric car company would no longer be accepting Bitcoin due to concerns over the cryptocurrency’s environmental impact. Musk’s tweets were followed by Bitcoin, Dogecoin and other major cryptocurrencies showing a sharp plunge on Thursday morning.
