Elon Musk

Dogecoin is an altcoin, an alternative cryptocurrency that, supposedly started as a joke, and has recently been hotter than both Bitcoin and Ethereum. But what is Dogecoin and does this hot streak have any longevity in its life? According to its website, Dogecoin is an open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency, an alternative version of bitcoin, with the mascot being a Shiba Inu.

Dogecoin was created by IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Abode software engineer Jackson Palmer who envisioned a peer-to-peer digital currency that could reach a wider demographic than the uber-popular Bitcoin. Palmer had been living in Sydney, Australia, and purchased the domain Dogecoin. Markus had seen the site and reached out to Palmer about building a currency. Using the models, Litecoin and Luckycoin, Markus designed Dogecoin as a decentralized cryptocurrency. Decentralized cryptocurrency is traded on decentralized exchanges which allows for direct peer-to-peer transactions of the cryptocurrency that takes place online securely without a mediator.

On Dec. 6, 2013, Dogecoin was launched. In early 2014 the volume of Dogecoin being traded briefly overran Bitcoin despite having a lower market capitalization. This same year the Dogecoin community successfully raised 67.8 million Dogecoins (approximately $55,000) to sponsor Josh “Moonrocket” Wise, the popular NASCAR Sprint Cup Series driver.

By mid-2015 the 100 billionth Dogecoin had been mined and there is no implemented hard cap on the total supply of Dogecoins which worries some investors. With the way the world is today, with social media, it was TikTok in July of 2020 that sent Dogecoin into the stratosphere in terms of popularity.

In recent months Dogecoin has steadily been rising, slowly getting closer to the goal. That too had been the goal of TikTok back in July and that was to get Dogecoin “to the moon,” i.e., to the $1 per coin mark. The popularity has created unprecedented demand and the cryptocurrency has been all over the graph, soaring high, for moments nearing the $0.70 mark and then plummeting back down to $0.55. Critics like the famed stock expert and television personality, Jim Cramer, argue that there is no utility for Dogecoin and that it on the fringe of a bubble that is ready to pop. Maybe so, but the faithful aren’t so sure.

This year billionaire Elon Musk announced that Dogecoin was his favorite cryptocurrency and tweeted, “The Dogefather SNL May 8,” highlighting the cryptocurrency. Other celebrities including Snoop Dog, Gene Simmons, and the Dallas Mavericks owner, Mark Cuban, have also gotten behind the rise of Dogecoin. Cuban has also tweeted that his NBA team had completed upwards of 6,000 dogecoin transactions.