Dogecoin (DOGE) — the infamous meme coin that launched in 2013 — has had a wild history of price fluctuations. At one point, it was worth a fraction of a penny, but then saw a “to the moon” moment where it peaked at an all-time high of about 74 cents in May of 2021.
Based on a viral internet meme of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog, Dogecoin (pronounced “dohj”) was created by two software engineers, Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer, in 2013. The coin has never been worth even one dollar.
Doge was originally designed to be a simple blockchain-based payment system. However, it quickly attracted a large number of supporters who developed new use cases for it, including a third-party tipping service bot called “DogeTipBot” that interfaced with Reddit, where users could send tips for content posted on the site.
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Dogecoin Price History
The code for Dogecoin is based on Litecoin, and uses scrypt technology. That scrypt technology set it apart from other kinds of cryptocurrency, including Bitcoin, which uses a different proof-of-work algorithm called SHA-256.
Essentially, Dogecoin’s code allows for an unlimited supply of dogecoins, which has contributed to its historically low price.
This makes Dogecoin a so-called “inflationary coin,” whereas Bitcoin and similar cryptocurrencies are considered deflationary, because there’s a fixed limit to the number of coins miners can create. Dogecoin launched with a total supply limit, similar to Bitcoin’s total coin limit, but the Doge supply is no longer capped. Plus, anyone can begin mining Doge immediately.
The price of Doge picked up in popularity over the years, with prices rising and dipping in 2017, and then hitting a peak in 2018 from bullish investors’ support. The cryptocurrency reached another level, however, when Tesla CEO Elon Musk and some other celebrities began tweeting about Doge at the start of 2021.
Between January and May 2021, Doge rose by 9,884%, from about 3 cents to 74 cents.
Dogecoin Price in 2013: The Start
Dogecoin Price in 2013: $0.00 to $0.0004
On December 15, 2013, Doge was first traded on cryptocurrency exchanges at a price of $0.00. The currency became popular among crypto users, and two weeks after its launch, the r/Dogecoin Reddit channel started attracting thousands of users and contributors.
Within the first two weeks of its launch, the Doge’s price soared from $0.0002 to $0.0023, which amounted to a 1,061% increase, although the ultimate value at the end of 2013 was still miniscule.
Dogecoin Price 2014 to 2019: Catching the Public Eye
Dogecoin Price 2014 to 2019: $0.0003 to $0.0020
The 2014 launch of DogeTipBot, a crypto tipping service, was a watershed moment for the cryptocurrency because it attracted users who normally would not have used Doge. It also attracted users who would not have had exposure to other types of cryptocurrency or digital tokens.
In 2014, the Doge community also used the currency to donate more than $170,000 in Doge to charitable organizations, including the Dogecoin community’s 2014 donation of 27 million Dogecoins (roughly $30,000 at the time) to help the Jamaican bobsled team compete at the Sochi Winter Olympic games.
The token did not see major price hikes until March 2017, when Doge’s price rose by 1,494%. Then, bullish investors began taking interest in Doge in November of 2017 when the price rose again.
That January 2018, Doge prices rose again and reached another peak, at $0.018. Dogecoin’s market capitalization broke $1 billion around that time. For the following two years, however, Doge had low trading activity.
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Dogecoin Price in 2020
Dogecoin Price in 2020: $0.0023 to $0.0046
In January of 2020, Doge was $0.0023. That year, the price hit a new peak in July at $0.0032 and then dipped over the next couple of months, until the price surged again in November and reached $0.0035. The year wrapped with Doge at $0.0046.
Dogecoin Price in 2021: All-Time Highs
Dogecoin Price in 2021: $0.0368 to $0.1702
In 2021, Doge began to gain traction again with renewed public support and interest. Between January and May of 2021, Doge rose by 9,884%. By May 2021, Dogecoin rose to its all-time high of $0.74, which is remarkable considering it started the year at $0.0368.
Dogecoin Price in 2022: Settling Down
Dogecoin Price in 2022: $0.1416 to $0.0858
Doge started at $0.1416 in January 2022, which saw a 16.8% price decrease from December 2021. The price surged in March to $0.1380 and then decreased again in May to $0.0858. As of July 20, 2022, Doge was worth $0.074, with a total circulating supply of about 132 billion coins.
Considerations When Investing in Dogecoin
There are a few considerations to keep in mind when investing in Dogecoin. While the coin has seen some incredible peaks and troughs, Doge has never been worth more than a dollar. There’s an unlimited supply of Dogecoin, which means that the value relies on buyers constantly buying new Doge that enters circulation.
There may be higher security risks with Doge because it hasn’t had the same level of code security or scrutiny that many other currencies have had. That goes back to the fact that it initially wasn’t treated as a serious cryptocurrency.
Another consideration is that holdings are becoming increasingly concentrated (much like with other crypto assets) — in fact, nine wallets hold more than 40% of all Dogecoin, one of which holds close to 30%. That means that those investors have a heavy hand on how the price could potentially change — they could cash out and the price of Doge would fall, or they could use their large position to manipulate the price of Doge.
The entities with large holdings that could potentially move the markets are often called “whales.”
The Takeaway
For a currency that started at $0.00, its lowest price, Doge has had a remarkable journey. Its most exciting phases include the tipping service DogeTipBot and Musk’s public support of the currency, which caused its peak price of $0.74 and a 9,884% increase within five months in 2021.
Photo credit: iStock/beavera
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