Dogecoin was created in 2013 as a joke. It rose 10,000% this year.
What is DogeCoin and Who Created It?
Dogecoin is an altcoin (Bitcoin alternative). The correct pronunciation is “dohj coin.”
It was created by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, software engineers at Adobe (NASDAQ:ADBE) and IBM (NYSE:IBM) respectively.
"It was a joke on a whim. ... I sat down with a beer and slapped doge's face on a coin and put it live. The next day there was heaps of retweets. ... We thought it would last maybe three days."
No Longer a Joke
The Wall Street Journal explains Dogecoin is No Longer a Joke.
The cryptocurrency that started out as a parody less than a decade ago had surged more than 10,000% in 2021 as of May 4.
It is named after an internet meme centered around the image of a Shiba Inu dog with bad spelling habits—thus “doge” instead of “dog.”
Dogecoin's market cap topped $70 billion in May.
Why Did It Take Off?
- On Jan 28, Mr. Musk, the billionaire boss of electric-vehicle maker Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), tweeted a faux “Dogue” magazine cover. Once, he shared a meme based on the movie “The Lion King,” with the Shiba Inu dog superimposed on Simba’s face. Another time, he wrote, “Who let the Doge out,” and “No highs, no lows, only Doge.” Mr. Musk renewed his interest in the cryptocurrency in April, tweeting “Doge Barking at the Moon.”
- A mainstream consumer brand, Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) Inc.’s jerky snack Slim Jim, jumped on the dogecoin bandwagon, calling for it on Apr. 13 to “go to the moon.”
- Mars Inc.’s Snickers brand tweeting “Maybe we should just #DogecoinToTheMoon” on May 3.
- Rappers Snoop Dogg and Soulja Boy as well as Kiss frontman Gene Simmons shared tweets with their followers.
Who's Getting Rich?
The Jist has some details in Dogecoin: Another Bubble Or To The Moon?
The Dogecoin rich list on bitinfocharts.com shows that almost 50% of the total circulating supply is held within 12 wallet addresses, with one of those wallets containing 28.42% of the total supply.
Data also shows that ~60% of Doge is held in wallets older than 1 year old, with the remaining ~40% of Doge supply being held by traders for less than 1 year.
Neither Palmer nor Markus is currently involved in their creation.
Palmer sold his stake for "less than the value of a used car".
They could have made a billion.
Speculative Mania
This story is amusing, but as an investment idea it's far more speculative than GameStop (NYSE:GME).
Fundamentally, dogecoin is a joke, worth nothing.
Thank the Fed for low interest rates and Congress for three rounds of free money.
That's what's fueling the latest round of greater fool mania.