Dogecoin is a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency based on a Shiba Inu dog internet meme that went viral on social media. Dogecoin was originally created to poke fun at other cryptocurrency projects being launched at the time, but it quickly gained a devoted fan base that discovered and developed new use cases for the asset. DOGE is considered the first memecoin and the first dog coin.
Dogecoin claims to be significantly faster and less expensive than Bitcoin. For example, it can process approximately 33 transactions per second, compared to approximately five transactions per second on the Bitcoin network.
In 2014, members of the Dogecoin team started the Dogecoin Foundation, a non-profit to provide support, governance, advocacy, and trademark protection for the token.
While the native token, DOGE, was initially developed without any specific utility, its use as a digital currency has increased over the years. Reportedly, as of mid-2024, over 2,000 merchants across the world accepted DOGE as payment. To this day, Dogecoin has one of the most robust and vibrant online communities in the crypto space.
How does Dogecoin work?
Dogecoin uses a Proof of Work (PoW) consensus mechanism cloned from Litecoin's network. It uses the Scrypt mining algorithm to validate transactions.
Dogecoin, similar to Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies and altcoins, can be created through mining. Mining Dogecoin is a way to both support the network and gain new DOGE tokens in the process. This computationally intensive process involves computers competing to solve complex mathematical problems to verify transactions and secure the blockchain network. When miners successfully solve these problems and contribute to the network's security, they're rewarded with DOGE.
Dogecoin's blockchain network allows users to send DOGE to other users anywhere in the world without needing a financial intermediary to process the transaction. Transactions made over the network are permanently recorded and can't be erased or reversed. Dogecoin's network can process up to 40 transactions per second, making it faster than Bitcoin's. It also has much lower transaction fees than Bitcoin.
DOGE price and tokenomics
Dogecoin had a maximum supply of 100 billion tokens on launch, which later changed to an infinite supply. As a result, Dogecoin is inflationary, meaning its supply of circa 145 billion as of mid-2024 will only grow over time. New DOGE tokens are created through mining.
DOGE's circulating supply equals its total supply, indicating that all tokens are in the hands of users, with the development team holding no DOGE. Each year, 5 billion new DOGE tokens are created, giving the cryptocurrency an inflation rate of around 4% — a low figure compared to other inflationary currencies.
Dogecoin prices experience significant volatility, fueled by the inherent volatility of memecoins and the asset's close association with vocal, high-profile individuals such as Elon Musk.
DOGE experienced tremendous popularity and was one of the most trending tokens during the 2021 bull run, cementing its position as one of the top digital assets of the year. The Dogecoin price reached an all-time high of $0.74000 on May 8, 2021.
About the founders
Dogecoin was created by Billy Markus, an IBM software engineer, and Jackson Palmer, senior director of product management at Adobe.
Shiba dog memes had been shared on the internet for a while, and the popular meme drew attention to the token. According to Palmer, the meme supported the accessibility of cryptocurrencies at a time when Bitcoin was viewed as a shady technology linked to the dark web. Dogecoin sparked public interest in learning more about cryptocurrencies. In 2015, Palmer left the cryptocurrency world and denounced the way people were making money from crypto.
The Dogecoin Foundation is a non-profit organization dedicated to promoting the use and development of the Dogecoin network. While the foundation was initially formed in 2014, it has since undergone several changes and periods of inactivity. In 2021, members of the Dogecoin community revived the foundation and began working on a range of initiatives to improve the network's functionality and expand its user base.
In 2021, the foundation began working on a staking mechanism in partnership with Vitalik Buterin, one of the founders of the world's second-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Ethereum.
The foundation has not officially worked with billionaire celebrity Elon Musk, but Musk's tweets and public statements about Dogecoin have helped to boost the token's popularity and price. Some members of the Dogecoin community have expressed hope that Musk will become more directly involved with the foundation in the future.
Dogecoin Foundation
Set up in 2014, the Dogecoin Foundation became inactive for a period and was eventually dissolved. In 2021, the foundation was relaunched with a board consisting of members of the core team and seasoned industry players, including Ethereum co-founder Vitalk Buterin, as advisors.
The foundation works to develop new features and maintain the project to improve its utility. February 10, 2024 saw the foundation launch its 2024 roadmap which outlines developments to enhance Dogecoin's existing projects and introduce new initiatives that strengthen the project. One major inclusion in the roadmap was the official adoption of RadioDoge, which seeks to expand Dogecoin's reach into under-served areas with unreliable or no internet connectivity. RadioDoge combines long-range RF protocols and the Starlink satellite network — operated by Elon Musk's SpaceX — to provide more reliable connectivity.
Dogecoin and Elon Musk
Celebrity entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk has often publicly displayed his strong interest in and support for Dogecoin. Musk, known to be an avid fan of memes, has endorsed the project several times, often sparking massive user interest and optimism, along with wild speculation. He usually takes to X — the platform he now owns — to express his positive views and hopes for the memecoin.
The "Dogefather," as he is called, began showing his support for Dogecoin in late 2020 in a post on X (then Twitter) and has continued to share his thoughts about Dogecoin ever since. Due to Musk's status and popularity, the DOGE price can fluctuate wildly whenever he mentions the token, adding to its already high volatility.
Musk has not only expressed favorable views on the project but has even taken steps to promote it. For example, he heralded the acceptance of Dogecoin by Tesla, the world's largest automaker – a company he runs. Another of his companies, SpaceX, also announced that it would fund a rideshare mission to the moon entirely in Dogecoin, making the mission the first of its kind.
Meanwhile, Musk has crowdsourced ideas for the development of Dogecoin and even promised to work with Dogecoin's development team to improve the blockchain. His actions could also be said to have inspired other famous celebrities and influential people, such as Mark Cuban and Snoop Dogg, to support Dogecoin.
Musk's actions, however, have not been welcomed by all. He has often been accused of manipulating Dogecoin with his comments, a claim echoed by Dogecoin co-founder Jackson Palmer, who left the project in 2015.
What is Dogecoin's GigaWallet project
The Dogecoin team has often reiterated its commitment to making sure that Dogecoin has utility beyond just being a popular meme. As such, they've embarked on several projects to improve the usefulness of the memecoin. One such project is GigaWallet, which aims to build an enterprise-grade service that merchants can easily adopt to accept and process Dogecoin transactions.
What is the Dogecoin Standard
The Dogecoin Standard refers to the specifications and rules that define how the cryptocurrency operates, including its consensus algorithm, block time, mining reward, and other technical details. It's the foundation that allows the Dogecoin network to function as a decentralized and secure system for transferring value.
What Is Dogecoin's Libdogecoin
Libdogecoin is an open-source software library that provides developers with the tools and resources they need to build decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and services that interact with the Dogecoin network, without the need for them to have extensive knowledge of how Dogecoin works. It's essentially a collection of programming code and libraries that simplify the process of building new software that uses the Dogecoin Standard. With Libdogecoin, developers can easily write code that interacts with the Dogecoin network, creating new applications that allow users to send and receive Dogecoin, manage their wallets, and interact with other users on the network.
DOGE adoption by Tesla, SpaceX, and the Dallas Mavericks
The 2021 bull market brought a surge of interest to Dogecoin, and high-profile examples of the asset's adoption. In March 2021, billionaire Mark Cuban announced that the Dallas Mavericks NBA team would accept DOGE for ticket and product purchases. In just two days, the Mavericks processed a record-breaking 20,000+ transactions in DOGE.
Then, during January 2022, automaker Tesla began accepting DOGE payments for merchandise in its store, as announced a month earlier by CEO Elon Musk. The price of DOGE spiked 11 percent before the feature went live. Musk also announced in 2022 that Tesla's supercharging station in Santa Monica would accept DOGE. What's more, the entrepreneur declared that aerospace company SpaceX will begin accepting DOGE payments for their merchandise, and will fund a mission to the moon called DOGE-1 with DOGE. Several notable companies, like AMC, have followed suit in their acceptance of Dogecoin.
Latest Dogecoin news
March 2024 saw the DOGE price surge to its highest level since December 2021 following speculation the token would be integrated with X. Fueling the move was commentary around X's payment division being awarded new licences in the U.S., which led some to suggest this would open the door to crypto payments on the platform. In the same month, Dogecoin overtook blockchain platform Cardano to become the ninth biggest cryptocurrency by market cap.
In May 2024, Donald Trump announced that he'd begin accepting cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin as political donations, as the Republican presidential nominee signalled his support of digital assets. SHIB, XRP, and BTC were also among the tokens accepted by the Trump campaign towards his election bid. In July 2024, a Bloomberg article spotlighted how migrants in Venezuela have turned to cryptocurrencies including Dogecoin for remittance transfers, citing the low transactions fees involved.
