Published on Feb 21, 2020
Dogecoin ( DOHZH-koyn, code: DOGE, symbol: Ð and D) is a cryptocurrency featuring a likeness of the Shiba Inu dog from the "Doge" Internet meme as its logo. Introduced as a "joke currency" on 6 December 2013, Dogecoin quickly developed its own online community and reached a capitalization of US$60 million in January 2014.
Compared with other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin had a fast initial coin production schedule: 100 billion coins were in circulation by mid-2015, with an additional 5.256 billion coins every year thereafter. As of 30 June 2015, the 100 billionth Dogecoin had been mined. While there are few mainstream commercial applications, the currency has gained traction as an Internet tipping system, in which social media users grant Dogecoin tips to other users for providing interesting or noteworthy content.
Dogecoin was created by programmer Billy Markus from Portland, Oregon, who hoped to create a fun cryptocurrency that could reach a broader demographic than bitcoin. In addition, he wanted to distance it from the controversial history of other coins.[9] At the same time, Jackson Palmer, a member of Adobe Systems' marketing department in Sydney, was encouraged on Twitter by a student at Front Range Community College to make the idea a reality.
After receiving several mentions on Twitter, Palmer purchased the domain dogecoin.com and added a splash screen, which featured the coin's logo and scattered Comic Sans text. Markus saw the site linked in an IRC chat room, and started efforts to create the currency after reaching out to Palmer. Markus based Dogecoin on an existing cryptocurrency, Luckycoin, which features a randomized reward that is received for mining a block, although this behavior was later changed to a static block reward in March 2014. In turn, Luckycoin is based on Litecoin, which also uses scrypt technology in its proof-of-work algorithm. The use of scrypt means that miners cannot use SHA-256 bitcoin mining equipment, and that dedicated FPGA and ASIC devices used for mining are complicated to create. Dogecoin was officially launched on December 6, 2013. The Dogecoin network was originally intended to produce 100 billion Dogecoins, but later, it was announced that the Dogecoin network would produce infinite Dogecoins
Several online exchanges offer DOGE/BTC and DOGE/LTC trading. Three exchanges, Mengmengbi, Bter and BTC38, offer DOGE/CNY trading. On January 8, 2014, AltQuick.co was the first exchange to launch DOGE/USD exchange. On January 30, 2014, Canada-based exchange Vault of Satoshi also announced DOGE/USD and DOGE/CAD trading. On February 2014, Hong Kong-based exchange Asia Nexgen announced that they would support the trading of Dogecoins in all major currencies. China-based exchange BTC38 also added their support on the Dogecoin exchange, boosting the market capitalization over 24 hours. In the first day of trading, Dogecoin was the second-most traded currency on the platform, after Bitcoin. On September 2014, UK-based exchange Yacuna began offering DOGE/EUR and DOGE/GBP trading.
On January 31, 2014, trading volume across the major exchanges was valued at $1.05 million USD. The market cap was USD$60 million. Three exchanges accounted for the majority of volume: Bter (60%), Cryptsy (23%), and Vircurex (10%). The most traded currency pairs were DOGE/BTC (50%), DOGE/CNY (44%) and DOGE/LTC (6%).
Trading physical, tangible items in exchange for DOGE takes place on online communities such as Reddit and Twitter, where users frequently share currency-related information. On December 23, 2013, Tristan Winters of the online journal Bitcoin Magazine discussed what was needed for Dogecoin if it ever wanted to have the success Bitcoin has had or to possibly replace Bitcoin.
The first Dogecoin ATM was demoed at Coinfest in Vancouver in February 2014. Two Bitcoin ATMs supporting Dogecoins and other altcoins opened in Tijuana, Mexico on March 17, 2014.
Dogecoin has also been used to try to sell a house,[61] and has been used in the pornography and poker industries.
Weather forecasting mobile app, web application, and website Doge Weather's creators Katia Eirin and Bennett Wong request tips in Dogecoin to maintain their website.[
Dogetipbot was a cryptocurrency transaction service used on popular sites like Reddit and Twitch.tv. It allowed users to send Dogecoins to other users through commands via Reddit comments; support for Twitch.tv and Twitter had been discontinued earlier. The service was launched in 2013 on Reddit. The trademark "dogetipbot" was officially registered on August 19, 2014.[69] In November 2014, the developer team behind dogetipbot raised $445,000 in venture capital funding. In May 2017 Dogetipbot was discontinued and taken offline after its creator declared bankruptcy; this left many Dogetipbot users losing their coins stored in the Dogetipbot system.
Over the years, many different tipping services have been created.
Unlike deflationary cryptocurrencies which have a limit on the number of coins that can be produced, there is no limit to how many Dogecoins can be produced, which makes it an inflationary coin. Dogecoin was initially to have a limit of 100 billion coins, which would already have been far more coins than the top digital currencies were allowing. In February 2014, Dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer announced that that limit would be removed and there would be no cap, which should have the result of constant reduction of its inflation rate over a long time
