Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you have certainly come across memes on the crowded internet streets. While they are simply a fun way to relate to life’s happenings, one crypto enthusiast turned a popular meme into a digital currency.
Sounds crazy, right?
Well, this is how Dogecoin came to be. The altcoin was birthed from an internet meme and was considered a joke for quite some time- some crypto critics still do. However, the digital coin has been causing a stir in the crypto world, drawing the attention of renowned investors such as Elon Musk.
So, what is Dogecoin all about, and how did it come to be? Keep reading to find out more about the world’s largest meme cryptocurrency by market cap.
The Birth of Dogecoin: A Brief History
In 2013, the Doge Meme started doing its rounds on the internet. The grammatically controversial Shiba Inu dog quickly became an internet sensation after its Japanese owner put up her dog’s cute photos on her blog. Jackson Palmer, an Adobe software Engineer, got the idea of combining two of 2013’s biggest crazes- bitcoin and the doge meme- to form a digital currency. He then sent out a spontaneous tweet about a hot new cryptocurrency called Dogecoin.
Palmer adopted the already famous Shiba Inu dog as Dogecoin’s mascot. The decision to use this character was mainly because of the developer’s desire to keep the project lighthearted.
Shortly after, an IBM developer from Portland, Oregon, named Billy Marcus, contacted Palmer on Twitter and asked if he wanted to create a real cryptocurrency, Dogecoin. On December 6, 2013, Dogecoin was officially launched and was available to almost anyone who could dig it.
Dogecoin is probably one of the most traded cryptocurrencies and has fluctuated within the 50 largest crypto market caps over the past three years. Not only because it’s a meme legend, the continued price increase still attracts a lot of attention.
With Dogecoin, there are ample opportunities to turn into a profit. However, before you buy Dogecoin for yourself and your friends, you need to know a little more about the coin.
What is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency based on Luckycoin (which in turn is based on Litecoin). Dogecoin was initially developed as a cheaper alternative to Bitcoin, Litecoin, and other cryptocurrencies.
It uses the Scrypt algorithm to check the PoW (Proof of Operation) extraction protocol. There is no real technical application for Dogecoin. It is based more on the effects of meme vibes and other internet crazies and reflects the modern internet currency’s uncapitalized aspect. The community was initially called Shibi and mostly used it to post funny comments, photos, and projects.
Shortly after Dogecoin was launched, Dogecoin developers worked with Digibyte developers to implement Digishield. This protocol changed the difficulty of mining Dogecoin into each block to prevent it from being picked up by large mining pools. Dogecoin has no ICO nor pre-mines.
Dogecoin integrated merged mining after Litecoin founder-Charlie Lee-approached Palmer and the Dogecoin community, suggesting that they add the feature to bolster the network and protect it from a 51% attack. Palmer noted that Dogecoin was “merged at the hip” with Litecoin, so its survival relies on it.
Curious about what is behind the Dogecoin technology? Well, all cryptocurrencies are based on blockchain technology. The blockchain is an extensive digital database (sometimes called a ledger) that stores information about transactions. Every transaction made with Dogecoin is stored on the Dogecoin blockchain.
How to Mine DOGE
Dogecoin can be mined by anyone with a computer and can be done with a CPU or GPU. However, it is still not advisable to mine with a CPU or GPU, especially the former, as it causes the computer to overheat.
Working with just one CPU or GPU, you’ll get an average return on investment of less than 1 DOGE per hour or even per day, depending on the hardware you use. For this reason, it is recommended that you join the Dogecoin mining pool instead.
An alternative is using an application-specific integrated circuit (ASIC) miner. ASIC is a term that refers to specialized hardware designed specifically for mining cryptocurrencies. ASIC miners come in all shapes, sizes, and price tags.
Whichever mining device you decide to use, the next step is finding appropriate software. To mine using CPU, download the CPUMiner, and if you choose GPU, you can download either CGminer or EasyMiner. Both software is compatible with Scrypt ASIC miners.
Next up is finding a suitable Dogecoin mining pool. You have an option of choosing between Aikapool or Multipool. You will also need a reliable internet connection, a working computer, and a Dogecoin wallet address on Dogecoin’s native wallet, DogeChain.
Dogecoin Wallets
Even though a crypto wallet is not like a real wallet where you keep paper money and metal coins, it serves the same purpose. Cryptocurrencies are digital, which means they only exist online.
The information contained in the wallet includes public keys and private keys. A public key is essentially an address which anyone can use to transact cryptocurrency, and hence everyone on the network can see it. On the other hand, a private key is like the password for that address; thus, it’s crucial to keep it very safe.
Dogecoin gives you a wide variety of wallets that you can choose from at any time.
- MultiDoge: It is light, meaning that it stores only enough information to use Dogecoin, but your computer won’t become a full node.
- Software wallets: Dogecoin allows you to download two software wallets for storage.
- Paper wallets: As the name suggests, they are printable wallets that you can hold in your hand. They are a secure way to store your Dogecoin and you can make a paper wallet on sites like the walletgenerator.net.
- Dogecoin Core: This contains the whole Dogecoin blockchain. It can take a long time to download. With this, your computer becomes a Dogecoin node.
- Online wallets: Wallets like Dogechain give you the option of storing your coins on the Dogecoin blockchain.
- Hardware wallets: These are removable hardware devices, like USB sticks, that you can safely store your Dogecoins. They can be quite expensive, a Keepkey being $68 and a Ledger Nano at $96.
How to Acquire DOGE
With how much technology has evolved, Dogecoin is extremely easy to get. When the currency first came into the picture, large airdrops were quite common within the Dogecoin community. Users could even go to select websites called “Dogecoin Faucets” to claim free Dogecoin.
- A Dogecoin Faucet is a website where you can perform tasks in exchange for free Dogecoin. Tasks here include watching ads, filling in surveys, or playing a lottery game.
- Although not as frequent, you can come across Dogecoin giveaways from time to time. The other free Dogecoins is by actively participating in the Dogecoin subreddit whereby you could get tipped. Honestly, though, the amount that is tipped is never much, just a few coins.
- Buying Dogecoin is still an option. There are over 250 trading pairs listed on CoinMarketCap, with at least three dozen exchanges supporting DOGE. Among the exchanges are Binance, OKEx, Kraken, and Huobi.
What Makes Doge Unique?
In the quest to know more about Dogecoin, we must dig into what makes Dogecoin so unique and worth the hype it is receiving.
Fast Transactions
The best thing about Dogecoin is that its transactions only take a minute to process. The faster transactions help the participating parties feel more secure when transacting on the blockchain, since there are no issues such as money hanging. The same cannot be said about bitcoin and other top currencies that can take hours to process.
However, if the currency continues its course, which is twice as fast as other cryptocurrencies, it will automatically become a leader in a few years from today.
Supply of Dogecoins
The supply of Dogecoin is also a fascinating feature worth a glance at now that we’re covering its uniqueness. The coins’ rapid production implies that the network carries out more transactions at larger numbers than the other cryptocurrencies. Also, this is attributed to the fact that the output of dogecoins is unlimited. In contrast, that of bitcoin is limited to only 21 million.
Rapid Block Recompense
Finally, the last feature that qualifies Dogecoins as unique is that it has a rapid dropping block recompense. What this means is that the mining process on Doge is much faster. Therefore, miners can verify new blocks and receive their rewards faster than they would when mining other cryptos. Consequently, they can entice more clients to mine and transact with their currency compared to bitcoins. It will allow Dogecoins to take longer on the market and be more profitable over time.
What Should You Expect From Dogecoin?
Dogecoin has no roadmap that we know of or a whitepaper for that case. The closest thing to a Dogecoin roadmap appears to be some Reddit 2017 post, which outlines several minor fixes and improvements to Dogecoin. There have been almost no significant developments since Palmer in 2015, and Dogecoin Github came out to say that most of the “developments” since then have just been security patches and other minor network maintenance.
The currency’s developers have not made any significant changes to the coin ever since 2015. With the crypto boom, you would expect that there would be developments to attract more people, but lo and behold, Dogecoin is still left far behind.
So, why haven’t we seen any updates?
Well, unfortunately, Dogecoin only has three founders who are just part-time volunteers. As much as Dogecoin prides itself in its fun and relaxed community, it is also its weakness. Other currencies keep improving and becoming more professional hence gaining even some of the currency’s support base.
Any hopes of an improvement lie within Ross Nicoll’s words, one of Dogecoin’s developers, who said he has been working on an update. The update is aimed at making the platform safer and more stable. We can only wait and speculate until it’s done.
It is worth noting that Dogecoin almost became compatible with Ethereum in 2018. Someone (allegedly Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin) offered 372 Ethereum (about $ 100,000 at the time) to any developer who would manage to build a Dogecoin-Ethereum bridge.
The change would result in Dogecoin becoming an ERC-20 token on the Ethereum network, allowing users to exchange their DOGE for the ERC-20 equivalent (and vice versa). The Dogecoin-Ethereum bridge was abandoned after the Dogecoin community decided that the leading case of using DOGE in tipping would not be feasible given Ethereum’s high gas costs in the form of ERC-20.
Dogecoin Price History
The history of Dogecoin’s price is as wild as the history of its origin. When DOGE was first launched on the crypto market in December 2013, it cost around $ 0.0002. The project only caught the attention of a select community on Reddit who would advise each other on Dogecoin. Notably, the Dogecoin website had more than one million visitors on the day the coin was issued.
On December 19, 2013, Dogecoin had a significant breakthrough. The value of the coin increased by almost 300% in less than three days. This market move marked the first time Dogecoin caught the eye of investors across the market. It is noteworthy that the rally was short-lived, and within three days, the coin value plummeted by 80%.
As of January 2014, its value had increased almost tenfold to about $ 0.002. In 2015, the price of DOGE fell to $ 0.0001.
During the historic bull market for cryptocurrencies from 2017 to 2018, the price of Dogecoin rose to nearly 2 USD cents. This estimate might seem pretty low, but take a moment to acknowledge that this is a 100x gain over DOGE’s original market price!
There is one more thing to note about DOGE price movements. It appears to follow a relatively predictable cycle that seems to be completely independent of other major cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin. Some speculate that it is an indicator of price manipulation by whales (pump and dump).
With this knowledge at hand, seasoned traders have been able to predict the cycle and take advantage to make significant profits. Although the TikTok hype drove the recent price pump, it is almost in line with how the Dogecoin cycle works.
Doge May Get to $1 Towards the End of this Year
At the time of writing, Doge’s price is around $ 0.05009. The coin is expected to remain strong and aim for the $ 1 mark by the end of 2021. All thanks to the growing community. The highest ever price for Dogecoin was $ 0.017491, which it got to in January 2018. That’s an increase of nearly 1422% since its launch in 2013.
Due to its growing user base, online popularity, and global adoption, Dogecoin could surpass its $ 1 target by the end of 2021. If not, by mid-2022, the coin could get there. However, we can only tell whether Doge’s price predictions are ideal for the commercial world a year from today. Since cryptocurrencies frequently suffer from regulatory news, you should expect bottlenecks in your growth forecasts.
Source: Wallet Investor
The forecast for Dogecoin through 2025 is intense and extremely bullish. Due to its popularity among consumers, it is expected to remain on the surface. There might be ups and downs, but in the end, this will create an upward trend in prices.
So, when investing in Dogecoin, you need to be optimistic about how it will develop over the coming months and years.
Where Do Celebrities Come in?
Another reason fundamental analysts are optimistic about Dogecoin’s long-term growth is because of its popularity among celebrities. Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has been making comments about Dogecoin since April 2019. He then satirized himself as the unofficial CEO of Dogecoin. His tweets over time have significantly affected Dogecoin’s price.
But Elon Musk isn’t the only one supporting Dogecoin’s use. The coin has famous fans such as American rapper Lil Yachty and guitarist Gene Simmons.
Lil Yachty has announced that they will invest a third of their assets in Dogecoin. Likewise, Jean said he would buy Dogecoin along with other cryptocurrencies in the future. Mia Khalifa launched a TikTok campaign to raise the price of Dogecoin to $ 1, which then failed.
How Safe is Dogecoin?
Unfortunately, cryptocurrencies can hardly last this long without hackers investing in them. On May 11, 2014, Doge Vault was infiltrated, and approximately 280 million Dogecoin worth $ 55,000 were stolen.
After reporting the problem, investigators finally found a folder called “PWNED,” which contained the CPUMiner excavation software and the ability to obfuscate the program. Dogecoin delivery destinations have also been identified, indicating an accumulation of more than 400 million Dogecoin. Together with other wallets, hackers were able to obtain 500 million Dogecoins between January and April.
SecureWorks examined the technical aspects of the attack and checked the attacker’s possible identity, and suggested that the actor involved in the threat was German.
Losing your Dogecoin is a terrible thing, but what’s worse than that is hackers gaining access to your personal information on the Doge Vault account. Unfortunately, that could mean that hackers could access your credit card information.
In light of these attacks, the volatility of Internet security is to blame. Not every website is safe, and you have to be careful about where you spend your money and enter your personal information.
51% Attacks
Blockchain technology, including the Dogecoin blockchain, is safe and has never been hacked. However, all blockchains are always at risk of 51% attacks.
51% attacks occur when more than half of the blockchain is under the control of a single person or group. In this case, this group can add invalid transactions to the blockchain. It is fraud and bad for any cryptocurrency that falls victim to this hacking attack.
When Dogecoin was first launched, it was highly prone to a 51% attack. To prevent this, the Dogecoin developers set up a joint mining operation with Litecoin in 2014. The two currencies can now be mixed into one hence making both networks more secure.
Parting Shot
Dogecoin is a great project. Its history, community, and bizarre ranking on CoinMarketCap(16th) show that it is indeed the product of a sinister alliance between decentralized currency and internet culture.
It’s always been meant that way, of course – a frivolous icon reminding people inside and outside of cryptocurrency not to take it too seriously. With that in mind, Dogecoin has accomplished almost everything it’d planned. Despite the worrying lack of development, DOGE has survived without major problems and may even last for years. It’s unclear how long this memorable cryptocurrency will last, but it looks like Litecoin is continuing to live, as has Dogecoin’s Shiba Inu. It’s a shame that Palmer quit Dogecoin.
All in all, it’s impressive to see how far cryptocurrency can and can go with creators targeting their active and enduring community. Dogecoin can and will hopefully be a force to drive cryptocurrency adoption in the years to come. So far, it has done well and continues to do so.