Dogecoin (DOGE) is dumb, but it's more than that; it is also a decentralized digital currency

Dogecoin (DOGE) is dumb, but it's more than that; it is also a decentralized digital currency. These two features make Dogecoin stand out both inside and outside of the cryptocurrency market, and it has caused quite a bit of controversy and laughter on the internet. The meme dates back to 2013, the same year Dogecoin founders Jackson Palmer and Billy Marcus decided to create a digital asset for the funny dog. It all started as a way to make fun of the cryptocurrency industry, which was later flooded with altcoins, Bitcoin alternatives, and highly speculative projects. In this way, they created a new cryptocurrency by copying the public code of BTC.

The beginnings of dogecoin

To understand the spirit of Dogecoin, you have to know its origins, which go back to the cryptocurrency market, which was just taking its first steps outside of Bitcoin. Back then, in late 2013, the spread of "altcoins" became more apparent and the creation of ineffective, even fraudulent, cryptocurrencies was common. Adobe's director of product management, Jackson Palmer, decided to express his disgust at this new industry reality with a sarcastic tweet. « Invest in Dogecoin. I am sure that this is the new thing”, said the social network. Dogecoin did not exist at the time, it was just a mockery trying to represent the widespread practice of creating meaningless cryptocurrencies. There are now dog meme tokens in the ecosystem, awesome!

Palmer's tweet was well received by the community, leading him to buy the domain "Dogecoin.com" and create a splash page with the same entertaining nature as the Doge meme. The site was launched to the public on December 6, 2013, and 30 days later it had surpassed one million views. Crypto memes are becoming a reality.

It was at this point, when the jokes had already started, that Billy Marcus entered the equation. An IBM software engineer has thought of creating an "interesting" cryptocurrency that is easier to accept and use than Bitcoin itself. When he saw the Dogecoin offer, he thought the silly dog would make a convincing enough face for a more serious proposition. Thus, Marcus contacted Palmer to develop the technology behind the Dogecoin idea and turn the meme into an actual cryptocurrency.

When it comes to Dogecoin, it is also important to mention the word "community". While some cryptocurrencies have established themselves through their own proposals, actions, or trajectories, there is no doubt that DOGE's success depends primarily on public participation. Today, the Dogecoin Reddit forum has 300,000 active members and counting, and is the center of many meme-based and charitable initiatives.

But this group didn't come out of nowhere, thanks to the reputation that Dogecoin users have built over the years. One of the main reasons DOGE rose to the public eye was because of its charitable donations in 2014, one of its most prolific years.

For example, members at the time raised $30,000 for the Jamaican bobsled team to participate in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. The athletes were eligible but did not have enough financial support to travel and stay in Russia. Thanks to the initiative of Dogecoin enthusiasts, they were able to participate in that year's contest. DOGE users also promoted the "Doge4Water" initiative in 2014. The initiative aims to fund the drilling of water wells in Kenya, which will raise an additional $30,000 for the campaign. Finally, they sponsored NASCAR driver Josh Wise and gave him over $50,000 in exchange for decorating his car with Dogecoin.

Despite the success of Dogecoin in recent years, the dog joke has gotten out of hand for some. Dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer decided to resign from the development team in 2015, claiming that "the community is toxic." In his view, both DOGE's promoters and its users, seduced by the rising price of the cryptocurrency, stopped seeing it as a joke and began to use it as a speculative tool.

Palmer has said multiple times that he is overwhelmed by the success of his cryptocurrency meme. He also criticized some of the technological advances the network has made in recent years that he says are necessary for property to appreciate. Compared to other cryptocurrencies on the market, such as Bitcoin or Litecoin, Dogecoin lags behind in terms of technological updates. However, this has not stopped the rise of DOGE as an asset, and according to statements from its developers, there are plans to improve how the Dogecoin blockchain works in the future.

Now the great Elon Musk enters the scene

Elon Musk is not only synonymous with Tesla, SpaceX or the "richest man in the world", he is also closely related to Dogecoin. Musk has been flirting with the dongle community for a few years now after being announced as CEO of DOGE over the April break. In the best Dogecoin style, it all started with a joke on the official Twitter account of the cryptocurrency. Kont launched a search to identify a new CEO for the project, saying he was looking for someone to "carry it into the future while maintaining our core values." Elon Musk was listed along with celebrities Vitalik Buterin, Charlie Lee and Marshall Heiner.

However, Musk has won so far. This seemed to please the tycoon as he toyed with the public and he even changed his Twitter bio for a day to advertise himself as "CEO of Dogecoin."

Although this dynamic was short-lived, Elon Musk did not stop tweeting about DOGE from time to time, posting several "meme" posts about the property on his official account and even agreeing to the use of the Buy Tesla crypto asset. This has had a positive impact on the Dogecoin price more than once, and Musk's support is one of the reasons why the value of the cryptocurrency has risen so much since 2020.

Currently, Elon Musk is still a big fan of DOGE and other commercially available Doge cryptocurrencies like Shiba Inu. The tycoon even announced his contribution to the aforementioned ecosystem and was even denounced in the media for allegedly trying to manipulate the market.

As I mentioned above, Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency with no supply limit. As if that wasn't enough, it's also an inflation asset because, unlike Bitcoin, DOGE hasn't reduced its block issuance since 2014, with around 5.2 billion DOGE withdrawn each year. Dogecoin developers have raised the possibility that the "rare and precious" cryptocurrency could also be an inefficient form of exchange. Due to the limited supply, the first to enter the network tend to accumulate more assets, which are mostly "held" (or saved) for higher profits, thus reducing the liquidity and fungibility of the currency. Given this assumption, they believe that the best solution for Dogecoin is an unlimited supply that allows the public to always have liquidity.

In this way, each block of this chain of blocks is programmed to contain about 10,000 DOGE, which is also the reward that the network gives miners for their work. According to CoinMarketCap, there will be over 130 billion DOGE in circulation as you read this.

Conclusion

As you can see, Dogecoin is a meme cryptocurrency with a passionate community and a curious history. Thanks to these characteristics and the support of important personalities, it has become a major player in the cryptocurrency market.