Over the past few months, cryptocurrency has taken the world by storm. It has become impossible to ignore, and we have seen it become a part of the common vocabulary of not just the millennials but many of the boomers (older generation) as well. This craze is primarily because of the astronomical rise in the price of several cryptocurrencies. Additionally, the growing utility of cryptocoins has played a part.
The most famous cryptocurrency that you have probably heard of is Bitcoin (BTC). It is also the first and the largest crypto in terms of market cap, followed by Ethereum (ETH). While Bitcoin heralded the use of Blockchain technology, there are thousands of cryptocurrencies that exist today – as most platforms prefer to launch their own token on a blockchain or smartchain of their choice.
[You may also read- Bitcoin- What & How- All Your Questions Answered]
However, in this article, we are going to discuss specifically about one token – Dogecoin.
Like Bitcoin and Ether (powered by Ethereum), Dogecoin is also a peer-to-peer decentralised digital currency. What makes Dogecoin stand out from the other cryptotokens is that it is the original meme cryptocurrency. It was created in 2013, partly as a joke to poke fun at the crypto enthusiasts at that time.
So why are we discussing a joke when there are several other tokens that should deserve a mention?
At one point in 2021, Dogecoin – the “fun and friendly internet currency” was up more than 13000% in value!
This unbelievable growth in the price of Dogecoin and other cryptos has given rise to frenzied activity amongst investors new and old.
Dogecoin – How and When it Started
Dogecoin was created in 2013 by Billy Marcus and Jack Palmer who were working at IBM and Adobe respectively.
They had this idea of turning the then-popular Doge meme into a cryptocurrency. It was a satirical attempt to poke fun at all the hype regarding cryptocurrencies then. Billy Markus created Dogecoin using the existing technology of two tokens- Luckycoin and Litecoin and it took him just 2 hours to do it. This development paved the way to a new category of cryptocurrencies called Memecoins.
Dogecoin’s logo features the Shibu Inu breed of dogs – a type of hunting dog found in Japan.
The coin was launched on 6th December, 2013 and in just 2 weeks’ time its value had jumped 300%.
There are nearly 130 billion Dogecoins in circulation and 5 billion coins can be added annually. There is no cap on the supply so there can be an unlimited number of Dogecoins. This is how it differs from Bitcoin which has a hard cap of 21 million. More than 18.5 Million Bitcoins have already been mined.
This hard cap on supply is one of the primary reasons why Bitcoin is considered by enthusiasts as Digital Gold. The supply of BTC is finite unlike that of a fiat currency like the US Dollar or Indian Rupee which can be printed infinitely by the respective central bank. (I know I mentioned at the beginning that this discussion shall be about Dogecoin. But can we really discuss cryptocurrency without referring to Bitcoin every now and then?)
Dogecoin – Manic Rise
Just over a year ago, Dogecoin’s price was 0.002 USD or 0.2 Cents
In January 2021, Dogecoin went up over 800% in a time span of only 24 hours.
The highest recorded price of Dogecoin is $ 0.74, reached on 7th May 2021.
At this peak, Dogecoin was up more than 13000% in just 2021 itself.
On 7th May, Dogecoin was the fourth largest crypto in terms of market cap.
What led to this phenomenal rise?
There were several factors at play, below are the main ones –
a) After the famous Gamestop Short Squeeze, Redittors made Dogecoin their next target
b) Dogecoin became a Tiktok trend after several influencers on the platform started trending it
c) Involvement of high profile celebrities like Elon Musk, Snoop Dogg, Gene Simmons, Mark Cuban
Dogecoin caught Elon Musk’s fancy and he has become the biggest influencer of Dogecoin via his posts on Twitter, the microblogging social network. Some of these memes are given below for your reference (and enjoyment):
Each of Musk’s tweets was greeted by an almost instant spike in the price of Dogecoin. His antics on Twitter strengthened Dogecoin enthusiasts’ belief that Dogecoin would soon “go to the moon and beyond” – meaning its price would surpass $1.
Some interesting Doge facts
- In 2014, the first Dogecoin ATM was launched in Vancouver
- In 2014, a fundraiser was established by the Dogecoin community to raise $50,000 for the Jamaican Bobsled Team, which had qualified for, but could not afford to go to the Sochi Winter Olympics
- The Dogecoin Foundation collected donations in Dogecoin to build a well in the Tana river basin in Kenya
- In 2014, the Dogecoin community raised 67.8 million Dogecoins (around $55,000 at the time) in an effort to sponsor NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver Josh Wise
- In 2015, Billy Markus – co-creator of Dogecoin sold all of his Dogecoins because he wanted to buy a used Honda Civic with the sale proceeds. Dogecoin at its peak was bigger than Honda itself!
- In March 2021, Dallas Mavericks owner Mark Cuban announced his NBA team would allow purchasing tickets and products with Dogecoin; within two days, Cuban had declared his franchise had become the top Dogecoin merchant, having carried out 20,000 transactions.
- On May 9th 2021, SpaceX announced that it had accepted payment for a lunar load completely in Dogecoin
Market cap Comparison
As of writing this article, Dogecoin’s price stands at $0.33 – more than 50% below the peak. This fall is indicative of the wildly volatile world of cryptocurrency. Even at current price, Dogecoin is the 6th largest crypto coin and its market cap is comparable to some well-known public companies –
Most of the companies in the above graphic are household names and have been around for decades. It is mind-boggling that something that was created just 8 years ago as a joke is now bigger than a company like ITC or Ferrari in market cap!
Do let us know your thoughts in the comments section below. If you like the article please share it with your friends. We will try to bring you more interesting topics from the world of cryptocurrency.
Do you think the internet’s beloved cryptocoin has what it takes to ‘go to the moon’?
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It’s all bubble, all hype. It’s a craze whose value is uncertain and volatile and will fizzle out. After dotcom, subprime crisis may be this is another one in the queue.
What’s the underlying in crypto currencies?
There is no underlying in crypto currencies – just like fiat currencies have no underlying. However, there is a category of crypto currencies called stablecoins that are pegged to the US dollar(check USDT, DAI, USDC).