The What now?
The popular cryptocurrency called Dogecoin aka the meme coin has been in the news for a while thanks to its “CEO by popular social media vote” Elon Musk. In 2020 it got Musk’s attention and thereafter, its value has been soaring whenever he mentions it. Like this tweet, after which it rose about twice in the week that followed –
The recent hike started with his tweet wherein he changed the original title of the 1926 painting “Dog Barking At The Moon” to “Doge barking at the moon”. The following day, it reached $0.32, an all time high till then.
A day to commemorate!
Then came the Doge Day. Fans of Dogecoin declared April 20 as ‘Doge Day’ with the aim of pushing the coin up to reach every Dogecoin enthusiast’s goal of $1. On Twitter and Reddit, crypto enthusiasts posted memes featuring the Dogecoin logo, a Shiba Indu dog, with the hashtag #DogeDay and #Doge420. Even businesses such as Slim Jim and Snickers got involved.
Social media users also drew links between Doge Day and Weed Day, which is celebrated on April 20 by marijuana smokers. Though it couldn’t reach its ultimate goal, that day it reached up to $0.42 and took its market cap to $53 billion. It became the fifth largest cryptocurrency by market value, higher than the market cap of Ford, Honda or Marriott International!
Humble Beginnings
It all started as a joke.
It was created by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus to satirize the growth of altcoins by making the doge internet meme into a cryptocurrency. While it was birthed as a joke, it actually led to some practicality as it’s large supply and low price facilitated efficient micro-tipping content on social media.
Coindesk
Founder’s dilemma?
The founder, Billy Markus Dogecoin in 2015. He said “…the community started to strongly shift from one that I was comfortable with”. Thereafter, he liquidated all his cryptos – Bitcoin, Dogecoin and Litecoin, which cost $258.55, 0.0002, and $3.93 respectively – for nearly $10,000 in the July of 2015.
Thereafter occurred the 2 crypto booms and as of last week, BTC has risen more than 25,000%, DOGE has shot up 224,900%, and LTC is up by more than 10,000%! !
Closing Comments
Though it seems like a good bet to hop on the Dogecoin Train, It must be noted that it is basically what it claims to be – a meme coin. Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin doesn’t have a fixed supply. Infinitely many tokens can be minted. As of now, about 130 Billion coins are in circulation as opposed to about 18 Million for BTC. That sums up the value proposition. But as long as the Elon Musks of the world continue to exist, Dogecoin might be around to finally have at its MOONSHOT!
