Dogecoin
Dogecoin (/ˈdoʊ(d)ʒkɔɪn/
DOHZH-koyn or DOHJ-koyn, code: DOGE, symbol: Ð) is a cryptocurrency created by
software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, who decided to create a
payment system as a joke, making fun of the wild speculation in cryptocurrencies
at the time. Despite its satirical nature, some consider it a legitimate
investment prospect. Dogecoin features the face of the Shiba Inu dog from the
"Doge" meme as its logo and namesake. It was introduced on December
6, 2013, and quickly developed its own online community, reaching a market
capitalization of over $85 billion[a] on May 5, 2021.
Dogecoin.com promotes the
currency as the "fun and friendly internet currency", referencing its
origins as a joke.
Elon Musk frequently mentions or
talks about Dogecoin on his Twitter account, boosting its popularity a
significant amount in recent years.
Originally formed as a joke,
Dogecoin was created by IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Adobe software
engineer Jackson Palmer. They wanted to create a peer-to-peer digital currency
that could reach a broader demographic than Bitcoin. In addition, they wanted
to distance it from the controversial history of other coins. Dogecoin was
officially launched on December 6, 2013, and within the first 30 days, there
were over a million visitors to Dogecoin.com.
Palmer is credited with making
the idea a reality. At the time, he was a member of the Adobe Systems marketing
department in Sydney. Palmer had purchased the domain Dogecoin.com and added a
splash screen, which featured the coin's logo and scattered Comic Sans text.
Markus reached out to Palmer after seeing the site, and started efforts to
develop the currency. Markus had designed Dogecoin's protocol based on existing
cryptocurrencies Luckycoin and Litecoin, which use scrypt technology in their
proof-of-work algorithm. The use of scrypt means that miners cannot use SHA-256
bitcoin mining equipment, and instead must use dedicated FPGA and ASIC devices
for mining which are known to be more complex to produce.
On December 19, 2013, Dogecoin
jumped nearly 300% in value in 72 hours, rising from US$0.00026 to $0.00095,
with a volume of billions of Dogecoins per day. This growth occurred during a
time when bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies were reeling from China's
decision to forbid Chinese banks from investing into the bitcoin economy.[13]
Three days later, Dogecoin experienced its first major crash by dropping by 80%
due to this event and to large mining pools exploiting the small amount of
computing power required at the time to mine Dogecoin.
free litecoin faucet instant payout
