Ever since it first appeared in 2013, Dogecoin has been … well … an underdog in the world of cryptocurrency. Literally created as a meme, it has somehow persisted to the point where even non-memers and non-crypto nerds are figuring out where to buy Dogecoin.
But more than just persist, it benefitted from an Elon Musk tweet, and like NFTs such as NBA Top Shot, it has enjoyed a moment in the spotlight this past month where its value rose as high as $0.45 and had people wondering if there was more to Dogecoin than meets the eye.
Since then, the long term forecast for Dogecoin has proven unpredictable, but that hasn’t stopped every last person on the internet from weighing in with their thoughts.
But are you still wondering how did we got here to begin with? What Dogecoin is used for? What Doge even is?
Well buckle up, because this is your guide to making sense of Dogecoin in 2021. And if you’re still interested after all that, we’ll even show you where to buy Dogecoin yourself in the U.S. .
Who Is Doge and Why Does He Have His Own Coin?
To understand Dogecoin, you have to go all the way back to 2013 when the Doge meme first took the internet by storm.
Little more than a picture of a Shiba Inu captioned with nonsensical phrases, Doge was the perfect encapsulation of the Internet’s inherent absurdity. Fun, funny and easy to riff off of, Doge memes were popping up in the feeds of boomers, zoomers and everyone in between.
As a result, it was only a matter of time before Doge’s influence began to spread to other corners of the internet. And one of those corners was the nascent world cryptocurrency, which was riding the then-volatile Bitcoin to legitimacy. Hence the creation of Dogecoin.
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More than just a reference, the entire inspiration for Dogecoin was to create a cryptocurrency that did not take itself very seriously and was essentially worthless.
And so unlike other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin was created without a limit on the number of coins that can be minted. And to date, more than 129 billion Dogecoins have been minted. This lack of scarcity theoretically meant that its value should never have increased over time.
And for a while, this held true. Until it didn’t, and Dogecoin took on a life of its own.
If Dogecoin Was Created as a Joke, What Is It Even Used For?
But after its initial wave of hype following its creation, Dogecoin quickly found its purpose. Because of its ability to process transactions quicker than Bitcoin or Ethereum, Dogecoin is often seen as a good spending currency.
It’s also become a popular cryptocurrency for people who want to frivolously tip others on the internet. For example, Reddit users have taken to tipping someone with Dogecoin when they post something good to the site.
As a result of its staying power, Dogecoin enjoyed a relatively solid value bump during the Crypto boom of 2017 and 2018, going from $0.0001 to a peak of $0.0115 in January of 2018 and resulting in a permanent value bump for the supposedly worthless cryptocurrency. While this was certainly curious, nobody considered that there was more to Dogecoin than met the eye.
What led to this huge Dogecoin Price Spike in 2021?
For all intents and purposes, the real story of Dogecoin began at the start of 2021. In the wake of the whole Gamestonks debacle that took Wall Street and the internet by storm, another reddit forum, r/SatoshilStreetBets, made it well known they were fans of Dogecoin and had every intent of sending its value to the moon. This led to an initial spike in Dogecoin’s value, to $0.05 which then prompted billionaire tech barron Elon Musk to also voice his support.
Doge
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 4, 2021
Predictably, people took notice and the price went up yet again, peaking at $0.079 before leveling out between $0.05 and $0.06.
And while many people had a curious eye on Dogecoin after that, I don’t think anyone was expecting Dogecoin’s mid-April rise, which led to its market cap increasing to $40 billion and sending the financial world into a frenzy. It’s generally believed that Dogecoin’s rise was helped along by the Coinbase IPO, which led to a price hike in multiple cryptocurrencies. Combined with the meme factor, it ultimately sent Dogecoin into overdrive.
And while Dogecoin has come back down from the moon, dropping down to $0.16, it’s worth pointing out that its value still sits at $0.26 as of this writing.
Is Dogecoin the New Bitcoin?
This wild year (and generally wild existence) that Dogecoin is experiencing naturally leads to one question: Is Dogecoin worth buying?
Unfortunately, that’s not for us to say, and we’re not sure anyone truly knows the answer to that question to be honest.
You can find the whole spectrum of thoughts and opinions on Dogecoin, including those who think you should get in while the getting is good, those who think there are better ways to invest, and those who think Dogecoin will eventually cease to exist.
What we do know is that many were bullish that there was going to be an artificial Dogecoin spike on 4/20 as a result of meme investors, that never really panned out. There are also many analysts who are worried that there is a broader cryptocurrency bubble that could burst at any time.
At minimum, it’s probably wise to approach any currency that was created as a joke, and any cryptocurrency that has no limit on the number of coins that can be minted, with a degree of caution. At no point was this ever intended to be a serious currency, so it’s definitely anyone’s guess what happens from here on out.
So Where Can I Buy Dogecoin in the U.S.?
If you’ve decided that buying some Dogecoin is right for you, you’re in luck: Buying Dogecoin is dead simple.
There are two secure and reputable places where you can purchase Dogecoin in the U.S.
The first is Binance, which is arguably the best crypto exchange around. In addition to letting you buy, sell and convert virtually any cryptocurrency you can think of, they also employ a rigorous set of security measures to ensure your account stays safe. On top of that, the site is easy to use. Including the time it takes to set up your account and verify your identification, buying Dogecoin will take you less than 15 minutes.
The other option is to purchase some Dogecoin through the Robinhood investing app. Yes, this is the same service that found itself embroiled in controversy after it froze trading in the midst of Gamestop’s rise. But at the very least, they are a known entity, and you can feel some degree of assurance that they won’t scam you. Like Binance, the process is dead simple, and once you have your account set up, buying Dogecoin will take a matter of minutes, if not seconds.
Once you have your Dogecoin in hand (metaphorically speaking), we think it’s a good idea to transfer it to a bitcoin wallet for safer keeping and more control over how you use it.
While you could use a digital option like the Coinbase wallet, or the official Dogecoin wallet, we’d recommend picking up one of the best hardware Bitcoin wallets (which stores many different kinds of cryptocurrency) for maximum security. Because hardware cryptocurrency wallets lack wireless connections, they’re virtually impossible to hack. And in the event that they are lost or damaged, will keep your data fully encrypted while also allowing you to restore your account from a backup key.
And if you need a recommendation, we’d go with the Ledger Nano S.
We like the Ledger Nano S because of its air-gapped design, powerful security features and user-friendly interface that connects effortlessly with the Ledger Live service. Plus, you can use it with early 1,200 different blockchain coins and tokens, and store as many as 18 different wallets at the same time. But even with all of these features, the Nano S Bitcoin wallet is still one of the most affordable options.
So there you have it. In the world of cryptocurrency, nothing is guaranteed, but at the very least you have what you need to decide if Dogecoin is the cryptocurrency for you.