Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency originally founded as a joke, has soared over 800% in the past 24 hours thanks to a Reddit fueled rally. This makes Dogecoin the cryptocurrency equivalent of the recent GameStop incident. 

Dogecoin was founded in 2013 based on the popular “doge” meme which involves an enthusiastic Shiba Inu Dog. The logo of the coin itself is the same Shiba Inu. 

What Happened with Dogecoin? 

Dogecoin was widely considered a joke by cryptocurrency enthusiasts since its inception. However, in the last few days, the cryptocurrency found a resurgence due to a Reddit subreddit called r/SatoshiStreetBets. 

Similar to r/WallStreetBets, which was the crux of the online movement in pumping the value of GameStop shares, r/SatoshiStreetBets is looking to pump up the value of dogecoin. 

Due to this Reddit induced rally, Dogecoin added about $7.17 billion to its market cap in just over 24 hours and now its overall market cap stands at $8.2 billion. With this newfound interest, Dogecoin is now on the list of the top 10 cryptocurrencies in the world.   

The meme-based cryptocurrency hit an all-time record price of 4 cents. This might not sound like a lot, but to give you a context, the cryptocurrency saw a fivefold increase in 24-hours as it was trading for less than a penny on Wednesday.  

While a lot of cryptocurrency enthusiasts try to educate the uninitiated and bring people closer to cryptocurrency, dogecoin has gained prominence for one reason: it is silly. 

The meme-based cryptocurrency’s concept has been so ridiculous that it has been fun to talk and write about. As more people mentioned it on social media and crypto forums, the cryptocurrency attracted new people who helped its value soar higher.  

Elon Musk does it again with one tweet! 

The rally continued thanks to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s tweet on Thursday. In a particular tweet Musk posted a picture of a magazine cover with “Dogue”- a wordplay on the fashion magazine “Vogue”. Users on Twitter and Reddit interpreted this as Musk’s way of supporting the dogecoin.  

The Tesla founder has in the past also tweeted about stocks and cryptocurrency leading them to rise. In April 2009 Musk tweeted saying dogecoin might be his “fav cryptocurrency.” 

Last month, Musk sent out one more tweet about Dogecoin saying “One word: Doge.” 

In closing, 

Dogecoin in all fairness is a cryptocurrency, much like other cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It enables pseudo-anonymous transactions through a decentralized network. However, there is one difference between bitcoin and dogecoin. Bitcoin is on its way to change fiat currency as we see it today. It was the first proof of concept for blockchain. Dogecoin, meanwhile, is a digital coin with a picture of a meme on it.