Register to chat with like-minded investors on our interactive forums.
Cryptocurrencies are among the trending topics of our days, receiving more investment than ever. Everybody knows Bitcoin. Now, a larger public is becoming aware of nearly 4,000 other cryptocurrencies. Dogecoin is one of them. The crypto that’s based on a meme is taking itself quite seriously now.
Cute Investment
Dogecoin is inspired and symbolized by an irresistible Shiba Inu dog, made viral by memes on social media. It was created in 2013,
Despite being much smaller than the top cryptos (Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance), the underdog grows incredibly fast. It’s the only crypto that can brag about having grown 200% last year alone.
Still, Dogecoin’s market cap is considerable: 283,100,035 USD, which is enough to put it among the top 40 cryptos today. Like other cryptos, doges have enjoyed the hype spearheaded by Elon Musk and other celebrities. Unlike most cryptos that are designed to be scarce, Dogecoins are abundant and relatively cheap.
Expansion
Dogecoins are getting more widespread acceptance in online businesses. While it doesn’t enjoy accepting cryptos like Bitcoin and Ethereum yet, it’s attracting more investors every minute. It’s even possible to find an online casino that accepts it. Jaxx and Ledger are two of the most popular wallets for storing them.
Genetic Diseases
A few issues about Dogecoins are yet to be perfected. Vulnerability to bad actors is one of the most troublesome issues. The crypto is particularly vulnerable to the so-called “51% attack”. In this attack, hackers mess around with the mining and spend the same coins twice.
Dogecoin seems now to be going through growing pains. The availability of this crypto increases at a rate of five billion units every year. Yet, this wealth is quite unevenly distributed. A single address holds 28% of all available dogecoins. Eleven other addresses concentrate 46% of circulating units, and 82 addresses have 64% of the whole supply.
Like other cryptos, this one is also quite volatile: it’s lost 78% of value between May and July. Because very few people own it, its price is subjected to the whim of a handful of wealthy speculators. For those reasons, some specialists believe Dogecoin isn’t an advisable investment in the long run.
Quick Facts About Dogecoins
- It was created as a joke in the wake of the viral Shiba Inu dog (a.k.a Doge). The creators, Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer, released it in 2013. Marcus has recently affirmed he sold his part in 2015.
- There are many more Dogecoins around than Bitcoins. Indeed, while there are 18.5 million bitcoins, there are 128,264,356,384 Dogecoins.
- The ‘underdog’ has one of the largest crypto communities on the internet.
- In 2014, the Doge community pulled together to sponsor Josh Wise, a NASCAR driver. They’ve raised over 50,000 dollars and covered his car with the Doge logo and Reddit images.
Conclusion
Dogecoins are among the cheapest cryptos of the moment. It’s gaining traction and attracting more followers, but it’s still highly speculative. It also lacks developers to keep on improving it. Only after eight years in the market, there is a debit card for doge owners. Security issues also seem to stand in the way of a more robust expansion. Anyway, Doge units are still cheap and accessible.
