“Such Wow.”, “Much happy.” These are the sort of short, strange yet amusing, and grammatically-incorrect sentences that have captivated thousands of online users. Normally accompanied by a photo of ‘Doge’ (an internet meme derived from a photo of a surprised Shiba Inu dog), the legend of Doge is still gaining ground and followers are flocking to its cause. Then as coincidence would have it (or maybe it was a simple eventuality waiting to happen), the meme was transformed and was given it’s own cryptocurrency.
At this current point in time, Dogecoin is valued at around US$0.48 per 1000 doge coins, which is also equal to US$438.24 per MegaDoge. In comparison to Bitcoin’s value per coin or Litecoin’s value per coin (around US$530 and US$11.50, respectively, as of May 23), the overall value is pretty low, but establishing a market average is almost impossible due to the complexity involved.
It may be a simple case of back-to-basics economics with the simple principle of supply and demand, but the internet offers a whole new range of mitigating factors that can impact the value and demand for certain cryptocurrencies, for example, establishing a solid online presence. For those who were born with computer skills in their blood, undertaking a mission such as creating a currency and gaining a following should be quite a simple task ; but the problem resides in the fact that the rise of Bitcoin has led to hundreds of others jumping on the cryptocurrency bandwagon.
This brings us back to Dogecoin. How can such a small (in regards to other cryptocurrencies) online currency make its mark ? The foundations of a large online following have already been set, with a Facebook page bringing countless doge fans from across the planet together – and the number is growing every day. However, the market value has remained very low, probably due to the fact that despite a large fan base, Dogecoin is still partially drowned in a mass of short-lived cryptocurrencies that are inundating the web.
But Dogecoin has managed to make a name for itself. In January, users managed to raise over 26 million Dogecoin in donations for the Jamaican bobsleigh team that wanted to participate in the Sochi games (the team needed an additional US$40, USD to cover costs); another example is Nascar driver Josh Wise and the US$55,000 he needed to fund his ford fusion. Donations from Dogecoin fans flooded in, with a lot of help from Reddit, and Josh Wise managed to obtain the necessary funds.
Dogecoin may be one of the lesser cryptocurrencies, and in its starting days was considered (even by it’s own creators) as a ‘joke-currency’. But as the days have gone by, coins upon coins have been generated by thousands of online users, and even some online retails shops accept Dogecoin as a valid means of payment.
The future of Dogecoin, however, remains uncertain. With it’s growing popularity and with all the recent media attention it’s been getting, the cryptocurrency runs the risk of burning up and losing the little value it has altogether. The key would be to keep it funny – as it’s the humourous aspect that makes Dogecoin what it is today.
Take that away, and all you’ve got is another short-lived and forgotten-about-in-a-day cryptocurrency that nobody wants. Much Sad.