Elon Musk has changed Twitter’s blue bird logo to the icon for the parody cryptocurrency Dogecoin in an apparent late April Fool’s joke.

The Twitter logo on the social network’s mobile and desktop homepages was replaced with a picture of a Shiba Inu dog on Monday night. The dog also featured on the website’s loading screen.

The picture used is the symbol for Dogecoin and the change sent the price of the joke cryptocurrency soaring by 25pc.

Mr Musk has been a repeated advocate of Dogecoin, tweeting about it and allowing owners to use it to pay for Tesla merchandise.

The digital currency was set up  in 2013 as a parody of cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Dogecoin was based on a then-popular doge meme, which featured a Shiba Inu dog surrounded by colourful comic text.

Despite its joke nature, the value of all dogecoin in circulation is more than $13bn. It climbed above $80bn in 2021 during a lockdown-fuelled boom in the value of most cryptocurrencies.

On Monday Mr Musk posted a screenshot from March last year, in which a Twitter user urged him to buy the service and “change the bird logo to a doge”. He tweeted: “Haha that would be sickkk”.

Mr Musk paid $44bn (£35bn) to acquire Twitter in October last year.

It is unclear how long Twitter intends to apply the change. After the logo was replaced on April 3, users speculated it was an April Fool’s joke that had been delayed by technical problems.

The logo change came days after Mr Musk sought to dismiss a lawsuit brought by Dogecoin investors, who claimed the Tesla billionaire had promoted Dogecoin in a cynical attempt to profit from its price rise despite allegedly knowing it had no value.

Mr Musk’s motion to dismiss the case said the claim was a “fanciful work of fiction that fails to state any actionable claim”.

It said: “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 $10bn.”

At Twitter, Mr Musk is seeking to sign more users up to its “Blue” subscription service. The paid service provides a verification tick, which were once reserved for public figures and organisations.

Twitter is charging £9.60 a month, or £11 through its iPhone app, for individuals and a reported $1,000 (£800) a month for organisations.

In recent days the social network has removed the mark from several accounts that have opted not to pay, including the New York Times.