Give that DOGE a bone.

Dogecoin (DOGE), the canine-inspired meme token often associated with electric-vehicle-tycoon-turned-Twitter-owner Elon Musk, was the top performer in October among the 150 digital assets in the CoinDesk Market Index (CMI).

The DOGE price rose 101% during the month, vastly outpacing the 7% climb in the CMI overall. Bitcoin (BTC), the largest cryptocurrency by market value, was up 5.5% on the month, while ether (ETH) gained 18%.

(CoinDesk Research)

Digital-asset analysts attributed the big jump in DOGE to Muskrs dramatic $44 billion takeover of Twitter n ostensibly tied to speculation that the deal might somehow, eventually, bring value or utility to the Dogecoin blockchain and its eponymous cryptocurrency.

During a May 2021 appearance on NBCrs lSaturday Night Live,r Musk used the line, lCall me the Dogefather.r And in January 2021, Musk used Twitter to send out an image of himself holding up a Shiba Inu puppy n the dog breed that inspired dogecoin.

Musk at one point suggested n perhaps in jest, perhaps not n charging 0.1 DOGE per tweet.

Dogecoin rose lon the back of excitement over Elon Musk's takeover of Twitter,r the digital-asset investment fund QCP Capital wrote Monday in a note on Telegram. lMusk's tweets have created price swings in the past, even suggesting using DOGE as payment for a Twitter subscription.r

Katie Talati, head of research at crypto asset-management firm Arca Funds, said dogecoinrs recent trading spikes lhave very much been speculation-driven,r similar to last yearrs frenzy in meme stocks.

lIt's the same way as people trading GameStop and AMC,r Talati said. lItrs a token that drove a lot of retail interest.r

CoinDesk Market Index constituents

Among the CMI index constituents, Mask Networkrs MASK token was the second-best performer in October, with a 96% return, followed by the decentralized crypto exchange SushiSwaprs SUSHI token, which surged 45%. SushiSwaprs decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) approved a restructuring last week.

Etherrs monthly return was fueled partly by a short squeeze last week. The cryptocurrency has benefited from fresh speculation following the Ethereum blockchainrs Merge last month, which shifted the network to a more energy-efficient lproof-of-staker network. The change also drastically reduced the pace at which the blockchain is producing new tokens n implying less overall supply.

Bitcoinrs return during the month was more muted, but bulls were enthused by its price jump above $20,000 for the first time in 18 days.

Talati attributed ETHrs outperformance over BTC to lmarket structure,r given that more traders had been betting against ETH than BTC n and not an indication oflanything fundamentally shifting.r

lBitcoin doesn't really have a strong narrative right now, whereas ETH still does have the Merge narrative,r she said.

Octoberrs losses

Rally (RLY), an ERC-20 token, was the biggest loser in the CMI, falling 33% in October.

The insolvent crypto lending platform Celsius Networkrs native token CEL lost 27%, amid reports that its former CEO, Alex Mashinsky, withdrew $10 million in the weeks before the company froze customer accounts.

Another big loser was Terra Luna Classicrs LUNC token, which also lost 31% during the month n potentially dashing hopes among traders who had hoped for a recovery following the networkrs collapse in May.

LUNA, the native coin of the Terra 2.0 blockchain, the fork that emerged from Terra Classic, slid around 1% during the month. Its controversial co-founder, Do Kwon, denied claims in October that he is on the run from law enforcement, despite Interpol issuing a lred noticer for his arrest in September. Earlier this month, Terrars developers attempted to revive the LUNA ecosystem and increase user activity with the token.

Whatrs ahead in November? Talati said the World Cup could spark interest in sports-fan tokens like Chiliz (CHZ), from lthe advertising perspective.r

She said she lwouldn't be surprisedr to see crypto ads on banners around the stadium during matches n similar to Coinbase putting up a QR code in an ad during the Super Bowl in February.

Dogecoin likely will continue to ride waves of speculation. lAt the end of the day, there aren't like financial applications built on top of it,r Talati said.