What is Dogecoin? Everything to know about 'people's favourite' cryptocurrency

The latest attention in the world of cryptocurrencies has shifted to ‘Dogecoin’ that uses the famous Shiba Inu dog for its logo and recently surpassed 10 cents in value for the first time in history, marking a huge surge from its previous value of $0.0023 cents back in summer 2020. Tesla CEO Elon Musk, known for impacting global markets just by his brief tweets, dubbed Dogecoin "the people's crypto". Cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin and Dogecoin are generated by computers with their supposed values coming from a finite number that can be computed. Unjust this year, the currency has risen more than 800% so far, as per BBC. Dogecoin is the people’s crypto — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2021 What is Dogecoin? The cryptocurrency, Dogecoin began as a meme and has now existed for nearly seven years. It was launched in 2013 owing to the short-lived online craze for pictures of the specific Japanese dog breed. Through December 2020, Dogecoin has been gaining its value but the latest spike has triggered howls of "crypto-hype" from sceptics. Even though started as a joke by two software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, as per CNN the cryptocurrency has witnessed a jump of 2000% in value since the beginning of this year. “Dogecoin is an open-source peer-to-peer digital currency, favoured by Shiba Inus worldwide.” The official website of Dogecoin describes the cryptocurrency as “the fun and friendly internet currency” Dogecoin or DOGE has no fundamental value nor is it tied to a particular asset or service. It has been described as a sentiment-driven asset. Even though a few companies do accept cryptocurrency, it is not widely accepted as a form of payment in real-life retail outlets. Even though Dogecoins are “mined” in the same way as Bitcoins, they is no upper limit on the number of Dogecoins, unlike Bitcoins. There are already 100 billion doge coins in existence. From meme to cryptocurrency In Dogecoin, ‘Doge’, as described by its creators is a’ “fun, friendly mascot.” After first emerging several years ago, the iconic doge meme featuring ‘Shibe’ exploded on the internet. An Australian marketer, Paler had even joked about combining two of the internet’s most-famous topics which were the doge and the cryptocurrency. At the time, Palmer had tweeted saying “pretty sure it’s the next big thing.” While Palmer’s tweet was acknowledged by several people on the internet and started talking about ‘Dogecoin’, the Australian marketer kept the jock alive by buying Dogecoin.com and even uploaded a photoshopped coin with the image of Shibe. Billy Markus who was working as a software engineer at IBM at the time noted the message left by Palmer on the official website and tried to get in touch with the Australian national. However, since both of them failed to get in touch, Markus began working on Dogecoin. The co-creator of the cryptocurrency, Markus told Newsweek last month that he created it just a couple of hours and reportedly used Bitcoin’s open-source code. Cut to now Dogecoin has climbed the ranks to become one of the top 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies in the world.’ What is Dogecoin’s current value? As per a Newsweek report, the value of Dogecoin in circulation which is also referred to as the coin’s market cap is currently $32.4 billion while ranking eighth on price tracking site Coinmarketcap's crypto list. Just a few days ago, as per reports, it was on number 10. After the sudden overnight surge in the cryptocurrency’s value, Markus even tweeted, “Just so you know, guys, this is unusual.” Basically, cryptocurrencies are broadly considered as a volatile asset that is known for leaping spiking prices and dipping swiftly as well.’’ For real though guys keep some rationality when gambling on highly volatile assets like cryptocurrency. Euphoria is a helluva drug, but y’know, at least keep paying your bills and feeding your family and have a safe rainy day fund. Stay safe, be smart! ❤️ pic.twitter.com/v272uMe4lL — Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) April 15, 2021 How did the sudden rise take place? The unprecedented rise of Dogecoin in recent weeks has been attributed to high-profile support by people like Elon Musk and Kiss frontman Gene Simmons. Apart from that, the cryptocurrency also has an active, devoted community on Twitter and Reddit which opens up the potential for large-scale movements to boost the price. Several observers have even compared Dogecoin to GameStop which is the retail stock that a community on Reddit, WallStreetBets rallied from around $20 to a high of $480. However, Dogecoin still has a long way to go to match the pioneers of cryptocurrencies as Bitcoin is currently worth over $60,000, and its market cap is $1.15 trillion. Image credits: Dogecoin/Facebook

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What is Dogecoin? Everything to know about 'people's favourite' cryptocurrency

The latest attention in world of cryptocurrencies has shifted to ‘Dogecoin’ that uses famous Shiba Inu dog for its logo, recently surpassed 10 cents in value.

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