Another record broken for the famous parody cryptocurrency, dogecoin. This digital currency, inspired by a meme, has long been a joke, but in recent months it has risen to 6th place in the cryptocurrency rankings.
The Dogecoin price
Graph of the Dogecoin price
Dogecoin price
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Evolution of Dogecoin
Dogecoin's price had already skyrocketed after a Tweet from SpaceX CEO Elon Musk in February 2021. This time, the price of dogecoin has risen by 300% in a week and is still climbing. From less than 1 cent to 3.2 cents in just a few days, dogecoin is at an all-time high.
Why has the price of Dogecoin risen so much?
Dogecoin
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Elon Musk's opinion on cryptocurrencies
This fabulous rise is due to Elon Musk's open attention to Dogecoin. In fact, at the end of April 2021, the SpaceX CEO proclaimed himself "DogeFather" and set the digital currency's price on fire.
Elon Musk is a software engineer with a lifelong passion for innovation. Throughout his career, he has focused on sectors and companies that would play a pioneering role. For example, he was behind the creation of X.com, which later became Paypal. So he succeeded in revolutionising payment methods. Similarly, he wanted to advance space research, finding that NASA did not have sufficient ambitions to continue to advance the sector. Once again, it is now his company SpaceX that is behind all the major space projects. Finally, Elon Musk has also established himself as a leading force in the field of autonomous cars with Tesla.
With this avant-garde spirit, Elon Musk wants to invest and position himself to change the world according to his values. That's why he is openly committed to cryptocurrencies, particularly Bitcoin. He is offering to buy his autonomous cars using Bitcoin to help establish the use of digital currencies in the daily lives of people around the world. Elon Musk is also investing heavily in Bitcoin, as we saw in 2021 with his investments of nearly 1.5 billion, following the example of Cathie Wood with Ark Invest.
However, the famous entrepreneur is beginning to have reservations about the restrictions and legislation that are increasingly affecting Bitcoin. Indeed, as the most powerful and oldest digital currency, governments are starting to legislate on it, which Elon Musk regrets. In his view, it is the freedom and independence of these currencies that make them an innovation.
This reservation explains perfectly Elon Musk's game with Dogecoin. The SpaceX CEO knows his power on Twitter: he has already paid the price by risking a lawsuit after a tweet about future investments turned out to be false. Elon Musk probably has a great sense of humour, but he also knows how great his power of influence is. It is therefore highly likely that he is playing with the Dogecoin price in order to make a cryptocurrency that is above government legislation more powerful. What's more, as this digital currency is a real joke, the meaning can be twofold: the play on contradiction and the slowing down of a currency that claims to be a joke.
What is Dogecoin?
Dogecoin was originally a joke based on the famous "Doge" meme, featuring the famous Shiba Inu in its logo. So at the end of 2013, American Billy Markus and Australian Jackson Palmer came up with a funny, light-hearted cryptocurrency to broaden the field beyond the Bitcoin community, which they felt was too confined. The creation of this cryptocurrency was therefore a joke and a challenge: to make people laugh and make it accessible.
Since the start of 2021, the Dogecoin price has seen an impressive surge, thanks to the notoriety brought by the Tweets of SpaceX CEO Elon Musk. Like all cryptocurrency prices, Dogecoin is dependent on mining, which doesn't seem to be a problem, as it offers more efficient and faster mining than Bitcoin, despite having a lower price.
Dogecoin's price is also hugely dependent on its notoriety. It is therefore true to itself in that it is open to a community other than that of Bitcoin. Its aim is to get the word out and reach a wider audience through humour. So, more than any other, Dogecoin will depend on its reputation. So we can see that the spike in the Dogecoin price in 2018 followed a Tiktok challenge that urged users to buy some in order to one day make a fortune.
More accessible and inclusive mining than Bitcoin?
Dogecoin's mining technique is similar to Litecoin, from which it is derived. In fact, the Litecoin and Dogecoin mining processes have been merged. It incorporates Scrypt technology, making it more secure and decentralising its mining.
This reflects the desire of its creators to differentiate themselves from Bitcoin by creating a cryptocurrency that is more affordable to a wider, less specialised audience. Another difference with Bitcoin, which is limited to 21 million dollars, is that Dogecoin has no mining limit and can be mined at a rate of one block per minute.
This mining can be done on any medium (Windows, Mac, Linux or GPU) alone or in a mining pool.
Dogecoin predictions
The predictions that can be found on expert websites, such as tradingbeasts.com, all agree that the price of Dogecoin will rise. According to tradingbeasts.com, the average price of Dogecoin will rise very gradually, reaching $0.5 towards the end of 2022.
Others, such as longforecast.com, even estimate that the price of Dogecoin will exceed $2 from the beginning of 2022.
Of course, these predictions are not infallible, since the price of cryptocurrencies in general is quite changeable. Even more so when it comes to Dogecoin, which depends heavily on its reputation on the networks. Even so, Dogecoin has an already close-knit community, a solid reputation and an appealing sense of humour, which in the current climate has a good chance of keeping the momentum going.
Partners and use of Dogecoin
This craze among Twitter and Reddit users has led to a very specific use for this comic cryptocurrency. It enables a system of tips to be used to approve and reward content that is appreciated on these platforms.
You can obtain Dogecoins by joining one of these communities or by using Dogecoin taps, which allow you to receive a small amount free of charge, in particular for joining these communities.
The main holders of Dogecoin are therefore generally individuals from that community. This raises new challenges for Dogecoin: maintaining its reputation among the largest possible number of people and attracting larger investors and partners.
Our opinion on Dogecoin
Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency that has long been relatively unknown, confined to a small community attracted by the humour of its creators' approach.
Yet its potential is enormous and has been gradually, if not impressively, revealed in recent months.
It's fair to say that the gamble taken by its two creators is only just beginning to bear fruit in the form of the power Dogecoin is gaining on Twitter. If the Dogecoin community began to dissipate over time, projects such as the Dogecoin Foundation would have been abandoned.
Clearly, this currency will bring back the purists and attract new investors.
Even more than the others, Dogecoin will have to maintain and create partnerships with investors and powerful broadcasters in order to survive in the ephemeral world of the internet.