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The parody coin was named after an internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog and had largely been forgotten about since its heyday in 2014. However over the last month the cryptocurrency’s price has skyrocketed, rising by more than 400 percent, hitting an all-time high above $0.01. The surge in dogecoin’s price drove its market valuation to $1.17bn earlier today - trading at $0.010360 per token, according to CoinMarketCap. Last month, the virtual coin rose more than 400 percent and briefly topped $0.0107 in late December.

Getty Dogecoin was named after the Japanese dog Shiba Inu

Dogecoin is one of various altcoins, which are peer-to-peer digital tokens that are descended from bitcoin. One of the most popular alt coins is ethereum, which hit $1,000 for the first time on Thursday. Dogecoin was created in 2013 with a Japanese Shiba Inu dog as its mascot, which was popularised by an internet meme dating back to 2010. There are several ways to get dogecoins: users can buy them at online exchanges, get tipped in cryptocurrency and even mine them.

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Despite dogecoin’s meteoric rise ,the coin’s creator Jackson Palmer, who left the team in 2015, has expressed concern about market excess. Mr Palmer told CoinDesk: "The fact that most conversations happening in the media and between peers focus on the investment potential is worrying, as it draws attention away from the underlying technology and goals this movement was based [on]. “I have a lot of faith in the Dogecoin Core development team to keep the software stable and secure, but I think it says a lot about the state of the cryptocurrency space in general that a currency with a dog on it which hasn't released a software update in over 2 years has a $1B+ market cap.” The total value of cryptocurrencies is over $750 billion, according to CoinMarketCap, and bitcoin dominates nearly 40 percent of that market.

Getty A Shiba Inu takes part in Crufts dog show

Dave Chapman, managing director at Hong Kong-based commodities and digital assets trading house Octagon Strategy, told CNBC: "The most significant contributing cause for altcoins to rise so parabolically is owing to the perception of 'cheap' coins. “The two most well known cryptocurrencies (i.e. bitcoin and ethereum) are considered too expensive for most new entrants. Despite being able to purchase a fraction of each, there is a real psychological barrier around owning something in its entirety.” Mr Chapman also said there is a mindset among new investors than they have missed the "upside opportunity with cryptocurrencies that have already demonstrated incredible returns."

Getty Cryptocurrencies like bitcoin have rocketed in value recently