As Dogecoin makes a comeback off the again of Bitcoin’s surge, some could also be pondering: The place did the asset come from? What’s it for? And what’s Tesla CEO Elon Musk obtained to do with it?
The unique meme coin’s increase largely has the world’s richest man to thank. Musk’s obsession with shitposting helped increase the coin to a prime 10 cryptocurrency.
It’s been a wacky journey over the previous few years, culminating in Musk’s appointment to co-lead a authorities company referred to as D.O.G.E.—sure, actually. However we’ll clarify all of it.
2018: What the DOGE?
Dogecoin is the largest and oldest meme coin and the second-biggest proof-of-work cryptocurrency. It was created in 2013 as a joke by builders Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer.
The concept was to poke enjoyable on the enormous variety of altcoins and crypto tasks coming into the market following Bitcoin’s fast ascent, and the coin loved relative obscurity and a low worth throughout its early years.
However then alongside got here Musk. The eccentric billionaire requested Palmer in a 2018 tweet to assist with the Twitter bot drawback. Scammers had created quite a few pretend high-profile accounts, together with Musk’s, with a view to push crypto cons. The scams usually posted pretend Ethereum giveaways.
It was the primary actual curiosity Musk had proven in Dogecoin.
2019: The pump begins
Musk began to pump Dogecoin the following yr. “Dogecoin is likely to be my fav cryptocurrency,” he wrote in April 2019, in response to a screenshot of a ballot from the official Dogecoin account asking who ought to be the cryptocurrency’s CEO. “It’s fairly cool.”
The submit can be the primary of many to trigger the asset’s worth to rocket upwards. Quickly after Musk’s first tweet about Dogecoin, the market cap of the coin hit $400 million and crypto alternate Huobi listed it.
Musk being Musk, nevertheless, didn’t cease there: He branded himself Dogecoin’s CEO—briefly—on Twitter earlier than persevering with to fireside out tweets asking if the coin is “actually a legitimate type of foreign money” or posting memes related to the unique dog-coin.
2020/2021: Bull run arrives
Musk continued to pump Dogecoin’s worth right here and there together with his tweets, however issues actually obtained began throughout the 2021 bull run. Main exchanges like Coinbase Professional listed Dogecoin and the asset developed an even bigger cult following, to not point out rising mainstream consciousness.
DOGE gained a market cap larger than many firms within the S&P 500. And builders completely instructed Decrypt that that they had secretly been working with Musk since 2019 to make the coin a legitimate fee methodology and a greener, cheaper different to Bitcoin.
However issues obtained stranger when Musk referred to as himself the “Dogefather” forward of a “Saturday Evening Reside” skit in regards to the cryptocurrency—once more sending the asset’s worth roaring upwards. DOGE would leap to its all-time excessive worth of about $0.73 at the moment.
Musk’s “SNL” look ended up being underwhelming for Doge followers, with the SpaceX boss and his mom’s allusions to the coin in the end pushing its worth down. Nonetheless, it continued to deliver the unusual world of meme cash to the mainstream.
Later that yr, Musk introduced that his rocket firm, SpaceX, would launch a satellite tv for pc to the moon—utterly funded by the cryptocurrency.
2022: Tesla/Twitter mania
The Doge mania continued into 2022 when Musk’s automobile firm began accepting Dogecoin for merchandise.
Dogecoin continued to expertise worth bumps when Musk purchased Twitter and rebranded it to X, hinting that it might additionally develop into a funds platform which may, ultimately, combine the O.G. meme coin.
Issues got here again to chunk Musk later that yr, although, when an American man hit the billionaire and Tesla and SpaceX with a $258 billion lawsuit for allegedly pumping Dogecoin—an asset with “no worth in any respect,” in response to the unique submitting.
However Musk and his legal professionals scored a win this yr when a choose sided with them and dismissed the lawsuit, calling the tech entrepreneur’s tweets about Dogecoin “aspirational and puffery,” and noting that “no cheap investor may depend on them.”
2024: Trump, Musk, and D.O.G.E.
Dogecoin had a comparatively quiet 2023, however the meme coin has soared in latest months following Musk’s help of Republican Donald Trump’s marketing campaign for the White Home.
That’s largely as a result of Trump stated that Musk would lead a authorities effectivity fee forward of being voted again into the seat of energy; Musk claimed that the division can be referred to as the Division of Governmental Effectivity—an acronym that matches Dogecoin’s ticker.
At any time when Musk talked about his future political position with the so-called DOGE forward of the election, the value of Dogecoin jumped.
However earlier than Trump’s shock election win, Musk revealed what he has in all probability thought all alongside: that he isn’t critically or concerned in Bitcoin, Dogecoin, or any cryptocurrency. He simply likes the meme coin.
“I’m really not actively concerned in crypto,” he stated at a rally. “I make Dogecoin jokes and stuff as a result of I simply sort of like Dogecoin—as a result of it’s obtained the perfect humorousness and it has canine and memes, and I really like all these issues.”
Nonetheless, the value of Dogecoin boomed greater in latest weeks, hitting a three-year excessive worth of $0.48—although it is fallen since, as of this writing. Musk has just lately praised Dogecoin’s charge of inflation and tweeted out a well-recognized meme picture of a mud cloud with the Doge face engulfing a metropolis.
And President-elect Trump made it official that Musk, together with Bitcoin-savvy entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy, would lead the brand new administration’s division. The leaders have already talked up large plans for the DOGE division, plotting substantial suggestions for company finances cuts and mass firings, and going to Capitol Hill to debate with lawmakers.
Trump is even promoting t-shirts exhibiting himself and Musk alongside Doge-esque art work.
Edited by Andrew Hayward
Editor’s observe: This story was initially printed on November 13, 2024. It was final up to date with new particulars on December 21.
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