What Is Dogecoin ?
Dogecoin has the internet abuzz. Elon Musk, Mark Cuban and even beef jerky brand Slim Jim have gotten in on it.
The cryptocurrency that started out as a parody less than a decade ago has been on a wild ride this year as individual investors have piled in. Dogecoin, which traded at less than 1 cent to start the year, briefly jumped as high as 74 cents over the weekend, according to CoinDesk, leading up to the “Saturday Night Live” hosting debut of Mr. Musk, the billionaire chief executive of electric-vehicle maker Tesla Inc., on May 8.
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| What Is Dogecoin |
Like all cryptocurrencies, dogecoin is a digital currency that can be bought and sold like an investment and spent like money.
Although each crypto is unique, it shares some similarities with its better-known peers — its code is based off the script for litecoin, for example. But it has a couple key differences.
Unlike bitcoin, which has set 21 million as the finite amount of the digital currency, dogecoin has 129 billion coins in circulatIon and will continue to make new blocks of coins available to mine each year. That's part of the reason one dogecoin is currently valued at about three dimes and a bitcoin is worth about $62,000.
Although cryptos are gaining more acceptance as a currency for purchasing goods, dogecoin doesn't have much mainstream real-world use. It has a few niche markets, including using dogecoin to tip online artists.
Why is is so popular, all the sudden?
Dogecoin is no longer a joke. Its popularity has soared — astronomically, this year — buoyed in part by the mainstream adoption of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.
But Elon Musk is the loudest and most prominent supporter of dogecoin. One of his bizarre tweets to his 50 million followers can send the crypto surging. That's what happened in April, when Musk tweeted "Doge Barking at the moon" and shared a photo of a painting by Spanish artist Joan Miró, which is titled "Dog Barking at the Moon."