Have you ever tried a weird food combination just for fun, but from your first bite, you knew you created a masterpiece because it tasted mouthwatering? Yes, that’s Dog coin.
Dog coin, also popularly referred to as Dogecoin, is a beloved cryptocurrency that was birthed as a joke. The creators of the coin weren’t fans of how seriously people took Bitcoin and decided to make theirs with inspiration from the popular Doge meme in 2013.
However, this crypto dog coin has transcended the realm of a joke to the point of becoming a valuable cryptocurrency. Though volatile like the rest of its counterparts, the coin has witnessed record-breaking highs that might just make it worth adding to your portfolio.
Come with us as we provide a little more background on the famed meme coin and explain its surge in recent times.
History of Dog Coin
About 11 years ago, in December 2013, two software engineers, Billy Markus, and Jackson Palmer, created the dog coin as a fun project—a way of diluting the mystery and seriousness surrounding Bitcoin at the time. To achieve this, they drew inspiration from the viral doge meme.
The doge meme featured a photo of a Shiba Inu dog with texts of different colors in the foreground known as “thought bubbles.” The texts represented the thoughts of the dog and were typically written in broken English.
When the pair created this coin, they didn’t anticipate its success as it quickly became popular on social media platforms like Reddit and Twitter (now X). People began using it as currency for tipping content creators, and in about a week, the coin became the second most-tipped currency. Its success can be attributed to its low transaction fees and friendly community, which developed as a result of the coin’s origin.
Dogecoin Surge in 2021
2021 was Dogecoin’s best year. In that year, so many activities, including social media hype, endorsements from celebrities, and retail investor interest, contributed to putting Dogecoin on the list of top 10 digital currencies by market value.
Companies such as Slim Jim included the Dog Coin in their marketing strategies as they incorporated references to Dogecoin on their social media posts. Also, celebrities like Elon Musk, Snoop Dog, and Kevin Jonas made a series of tweets promoting it, and community forums like Reddit’s r/WallStreetsBets, that preached the gospel of the meme coin were thriving. The numbers also went up when Elon Musk announced that Tesla would be accepting Dogecoin as payment for some products.
Dog Coin Boom in 2024
The Dog Coin boom in 2024 was also triggered by a series of events anticipated by the cryptocurrency community, including the Bitcoin halving event, Doge Day, and speculations that the coin will be accepted as payment on X (formerly Twitter).
The Dog coin boom can be linked to Bitcoin’s famed halving event. Bitcoin, created in 2009 and capped at 21 million coins, has a built-in mechanism that halves the rewards miners get for mining a new block every four years. The mechanism is known as “halving”.
When a miner successfully validates the information in a block, they earn a certain amount of Bitcoin. However, for various reasons, such as Bitcoin’s limited supply and keeping the coin’s inflation rate in check, Satoshi Nakamoto created the halving event to occur per 210,000 blocked mined, translating to every four years.
Since 2009, when Bitcoin went live, there have been three halving events: 2012, 2016, and 2020. The result of these events is that the reward for mining a block has gone from 50 BTC to 6.25 BTC. The fourth event is estimated to take place in April 2024.
Dog Coin Prospects: Bitcoin Halving Equals Dog Boom?
Bitcoin is the main character in the cryptocurrency scene, and this event affects the whole cryptocurrency ecosystem, making investors interested in short-term gains turn to coins like Dogecoin. This coin and other meme coins are beneficiaries of the halving event and have a trend of experiencing surges during this period.
However, there is also something special about this year’s bitcoin halving—it coincides with Doge Day, a light-hearted celebration within the Dogecoin community with ties to memes and internet culture, happening on April 20.
It appears that these events will help Dogecoin recover from the hit it took following the crash of the crypto market. Traders have begun to move large portions of the meme coin away from exchanges and into unknown wallets. This year, the number of addresses holding over 100,000 Dogecoin has gone up by 0.7%, the bull sentiment indicating Dogecoin might hit its target by the end of April 2024.
Another contributing factor may be the speculation by members of the famous Dogecoin community that the coin will be used on Elon’s X following the platform’s new payment branch, which will be given more licenses in the U.S. However, no official statement has been made concerning using Dogecoin as a payment option on X.
This year alone, there has been a 118% increase in the price of Dogecoin, the current price being just below the $0.2 threshold. The surge is helping the coin recover a fraction of its weekly losses after it had plunged 21%. It is expected that the bullish momentum will persist for Dogecoin with predictions of $0.4 to $5.5 between 2023-2030.
Conclusion
Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that began as a Bitcoin satire using a viral meme has reached record-breaking highs thanks to several factors including the Dogecoin community’s efforts and celebrity endorsements and publicity.
This cryptocurrency has moved from being a joke to being a coin with the potential to be a valuable addition to your portfolio. Despite crashes in the crypto market, the coin is having a good year and seems to be back on the rise.
However, if you wish to add it to your investments, you should know that these booms are speculative and can be subject to corrections. Also, you should not forget the volatile nature of digital currencies and invest wisely and carefully.