Bitcoin has always been the gold standard of crypto-currencies. As the first decentralized digital currency, Bitcoin attracted attention the world over and became known for its use on darknet websites and in gambling.

In 2013, when Bitcoin was experiencing its first wave of mainstream attention, another cryptocurrency. Dogecoin rode on Satoshi Nakamoto’s invention’s coattails. Dogecoin quickly became one of the most popular digital currencies, but, after a price crash, the market cooled.

In early 2016, Dogecoin increased 600% after two years of sideways price action. It turns out, the price increase was likely due to a pump-and-dump after the price crashed toward the end of January. Despite the pump, the price remains increased YTD.

Last July, CCN.com reported how Dogecoin had been the most stable cryptocurrency. Since its inception, Dogecoin has consistently been a top ten cryptocurrency. The Dogecoin community has sponsored NASCAR races, a school in Cambodia, and even a mini lunar rover race.

The creator of Dogecoin separated himself from Dogecoin, and cryptocurrency generally, bemoaning the scams and incompetence alive-and-well in the industry.

Dogecoin was started as a joke. The cryptocurrency bears the likeness of Shiba Inu, an Internet meme. Dogecoin, introduced on December 8, 2013, developed quickly its own online community, reaching a capitalization of USD 60 million in January 2014. It’s the current market cap is.

There are scheduled to be billions of dogecoins mined over time, with approximately 5.256 billion coins minted yearly. Dogecoin is used by some for internet tipping.

Dogecoin programmer, Billy Markus, initially wished to separate Dogecoin from the reputation for use in illicit markets which plagued Bitcoin. Originally the network was designed to produce 100 billion Dogecoins, but this evolved to an infinite amount of Dogecoins.

Dogecoins price rise was dramatic, as, on December 19, 2013, Dogecoin increased in price 300 percent in 72 hours. Three days later, Dogecoin crashed by 80%. After this week’s price increase, Dogecoin enjoyed a market capitalization over $50 million for the first time since its first year for a short time.

In terms of transactions, Dogecoin often ranks as the second-largest cryptocurrency in terms of transactions, including some of the largest transaction values.

The reason for the price increase is unknown. Some speculate that Dogecoin is popular in China, and since China’s stock markets are collapsing, investors are moving into crypto-currencies like Bitcoin and Dogecoin. Of course, this is an easy assertion to make since it can’t exactly be tested thanks to China’s “Great Firewall” of Internet censorship. What also makes it unlikely is the fact that Bitcoin and Litecoin, other digital currencies, have not increased in price notably this week.

Others suggested speculators pumped the coin by buying up the crypto-currency, only to sell it later. Bitcoin news outlets still take Dogecoin seriously, covering price movements in the currency regularly.

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