The cryptocurrency that is based on a meme – Dogecoin – pronounced ‘dohj coin’ – has still pursued in capturing the public’s attention which started as a joke over 8 years ago and until this day, DOGE is still ranked among the top 10 digital currency according to CoinMarketCap.

The same as Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) – Dogecoin (DOGE) operates on a decentralized and secured digital ledger technology (DLT) commonly known as Blockchain. The process of storing transaction information is immutable and secured suppressing possible alteration or hacks into the system.

This article will highlight DOGE's dynamic history all through the years as well as the person who made huge support for the coin.

Background: What Is Dogecoin?

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that has risen in popularity in 2020 and 2021. This coin was inspired by a meme of a famous Japanese hunting-breed dog called Shiba Inu. Now, the Shiba Inu meme is the mascot of this crypto and is commonly called the “DOGE dog”.

This coin was co-founded back in 2013 through the minds of the software engineers, Billy Markus – who worked for IBM from Portland, Oregon, and Jackson Palmer – a member of the Adobe Systems Marketing Department in Sydney. Billy and Jackson first created Dogecoin to increase the public accessibility to crypto after a joke tweet from Bill to Jackson saying “Investing in Dogecoin, pretty sure it’s the next big thing.”. Their goal was to create a friendly and lighthearted way for people to get involved in the crypto space through this “joke currency”.

The Advancement of DOGE

While the coin started as the banter between them, eventually the crypto enthusiasts took it more until it became a serious development. In the first few weeks of the coin’s release, people began to buy, sell, trade, and even HODL the coin (Hold On For Dear Life).  Dogecoin’s value has skyrocketed since the start of 2021. According to Nomics, back in January, the price of DOGE reached the value of £0.0072 and as of the crafting of this article (12th July 2021), its price is £0.1491.

Dogecoin’s all-time high price peak in May 2021 was at £0.43, which after some time slowly fell. However, Dogecoin’s share price remains quite high for a relatively new cryptocurrency, the thing that made it even more interesting.

A Timeline

The same as other digital currencies, Dogecoin went and imprinted its history across timelines. The following is the timeline of historic and important DOGE coin dates:

  • 2013 – The coin was initiated in the first week of December, by the developers, Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus. Their objective was to make cryptocurrency something that anyone can get into. In the same month, the coin saw its value grew up to 300%.
  • 2014 – The DOGE community raised money in aid of the Jamaican Bobsled team’s journey to the Olympics.
  • 2015 – Both of the coin’s original founders pulled out from the DOGE community.
  • 2016 – The interest in the coin decreased but the price stayed as it was.
  • 2017 - 2018 – In parallel to all the other big cryptos, DOGE went on a major run.
  • 2020 – Popular personalities on TikTok drove up the price of the coin.
  • 2021 – Early in the year, the value of the coin rose by 800%. This was tied to the Game Stop trading situation. At this point, Elon Musk also spent some time tweeting in support of the said coin.
  • 2021 – In May, Musk’s appearance on Saturday Night Live caused a stir around  to the coin. The price increased significantly (see the full price history here). However, after Musk made certain comments on the show, the price dropped once again.

After the creators left the DOGE in 2015, the issue of having the difficulty in knowing whose going to manage the coin came on. The website of Dogecoin noted that everyone will run it equally and after a period of time, five developers namely Ross Nicoll, Michi Lumin, Max Keller, Patrick Lodder, and "Sporklin" (who passed away in April 2021) are now the most recent faces behind who reinstated the support for DOGE.

The Work of The DOGE Community

The Dogecoin community has done much work for the public, which includes raising funds to send the Jamaican Bobsleigh Team to the Olympics – one of the most iconic moments in the history of the Olympic Games. The group of supporters has relentlessly raised an amount of more than £18,000 worth of DOGE in order to help the Jamaican team attend the Winter Olympics 1998 in Sochi.

The community together with a New York-based non-profit charity – charity: water has also run a campaign called Doge4Water, in which an extensive effort of donating around £21,600 for the purpose of building water wells to support a remote region in drought-stricken eastern Kenya.

In addition, the DOGE community members have funded NASCAR driver, Josh Wise with more than £36,000 in order to have full-car Dogecoin livery for the 2014 Aaron's 499 at Talladega Superspeedway.

Where does Elon Musk fit in?

The price of Dogecoin has attributed to its popularity together with him some iconic names like Snoop Dogg – an  American rapper, singer, songwriter, actor, and media personality. However, the name that notably supported Dogecoin is none other than, Elon Musk.

‍Elon Musk is one of the most affluent entrepreneurs in the world. Musk is the businessman that co-founded PayPal, was Chief Executive Officer of Tesla, and creator of SpaceX. All of his business ventures have made him one of the top 5 richest people in the world. Due to his success in business, Musk has now become popular in both the tech community and crypto space which gave him the name to influence what people should invest in.

The story behind Dogecoin and Elon started with a tweet in 2019 where he quoted the term “Doge”. Until today, Musk has avidly supported Dogecoin. In May 2021, Musk announced that his spacecraft company is now accepting Dogecoin as a payment in order to launch a satellite into the moon by next year. He also said that using this coin, the spacecraft company will launch a mission to the moon in 2022.

There has also been much speculation about Musk and his behind-the-scenes involvement with this cryptocurrency. Musk tweeted that he was working with the developers of Dogecoin to enhance the way transactions are done by implementing added technology for the security of the coin. The developers confirmed that Musk has been giving them some advice and putting them in contact with the right people since 2019, however, rejected the funding offer from the Tesla boss.

Last month, Musk tweeted that SpaceX was going to put a "literal Dogecoin on the literal moon". SpaceX Vice President of Commercial Sales Tom Ochinero said that "This mission will demonstrate the application of cryptocurrency beyond Earth’s orbit and set the foundation for interplanetary commerce.", as said in Elon’s statement.

Buy Dogecoin: An Overview

Dogecoin investing may seem intriguing now knowing the background and support it gets from Elon Musk. In most cases, people would ask “Where can I buy Dogecoin?”. Dogecoin can be bought, sold, and traded from many of the well-known crypto exchange platforms.

For those in The United Kingdom who want to be part of the DOGE community, you will soon have a UK-based platform to turn to. Dogecoin is coming to coinpass soon. So keep an eye on the platform and follow coinpass’ official social media accounts for updates.

Should you buy DOGE?

Every investor and their strategy is different and each has its own goals. Is owning and holding Doge right for you? DOGE coin trades like any other crypto but has several unique properties that make it unique. Knowing what a cryptocurrency does, its purpose, its intended audience and its “tokenomics” should be considered when investing in crypto.

New DOGE tokens are minted every minute! Meaning, that the supply will constantly grow into the billions and trillions over time. There is no scarcity with the DOGE coin, as it is for everyone. Compared to Bitcoin, which has a limited supply of 21 million tokens.

If you are more into trading DOGE coins with volatility, then check out the price charts and plan your strategy accordingly.

Final Thoughts

Dogecoin has seen massive success The coin is believed to remain highly ranked in the market, as it has many high-profile supporters like Elon Musk and has captivated the crypto space with something that’s not only fun but fun to share within a community.

If you are based in The UK and would like to hop in the DOGE trend, then stay tuned. coinpass will be launching it real soon!