Internet Meme Dogecoin A Hotter Currency Than Bitcoin?

In 2013 virtual currencies Bitcoin and Litecoin were the talk of the web, but 2014 might just become the year of Dogecoin.

In this story you will discover about Dogecoin:

What the hell it is

Where it has come from

What it is being used for

What the Hell is Dogecoin?

It’s a new open-source, crypto-currency based on an Internet meme that features a Shiba Inu dog(e) whose inner monologue is written in broken English, using the Comic Sans font. Check the example below:

The facts: A single Dogecoin is worth almost nothing (fractions of a penny). And yes, its value soared last week, but it is still outperforming all other digital currencies.

Where has Dogecoin come from?

Jackson Palmer, an Australian working at Adobe’s marketing department in Sydney, combined 2013 most popular meme with a virtual currency, resulting in Dogecoin.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world in Portland, Oregon, Billy Markus working for IBM, was trying to program his own crypto-currency, when he stumbled across Dogecoin.com and decided this was for him.

Palmer and Markus got in touch via Twitter and within a week the Dogecoin partnership was born.

Next it got picked up on Reddit, and instantly exploded.

Dogecoin, What Is It Being Used For?

Technically speaking, Dogecoin is more of a variation on Litecoin, which runs on a cryptographic program called Scrypt.

Like Litecoin, the time it takes to process a Dogecoin transaction is much shorter than for Bitcoin. There are also many more Dogecoins that will come into existence — 100 billion versus 21 million.

The question: Is Dogecoin ridiculous or is ridiculousness Dogecoin’s most valuable feature?

Co-founder Palmer stated about that:

Dogecoin not taking itself as seriously, it’s not being used by people worrying about whether they’ll become rich. It’s something to share for thanks or kudos.

Another benefit of Dogecoin is that it’s something people can do with their basic PC, unlike mining Bitcoin, which requires industrial high-speed processors.

However co-creators Palmer and Markus are very clear about their passion:

We have no intention of competing with Bitcoin, and both are still fervent believers in Dogecoin’s potential to change online banking.

My Opinion

Dogecoin has the power of buzz inside, because it comes from a very popular meme. It’s being backed by a large community of fans, for example on the powerful platform called Reddit.

That means that Dogecoin will be earning lots of attention for free. Beyond that, it takes most brands several years or decades to create a large fan base. And many brands will always be low on Social NPS. Dogecoin however, already has a massive fan base from the start.

Will Dogecoin be top of or flop in 2014? I think it will surprise us all.

The revolutionary internet has let more genies out of the bottle in the past, so should we really be surprised if Dogecoin was to become a big hit?

So to me the Dogecoin phenomenon is not a joke or ridiculous.

My last argument to back my opinion? Last week, Bitcoin and most other coins were up about 20%. Dogecoin was up 250%.

What About You?

How do you feel about Dogecoin? I would love to hear your ideas.

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About the Author

Igor Beuker is an acclaimed trendwatcher & pro speaker, serial entrepreneur, marketing consultant and board member at several disruptive media, technology and entertainment firms. Book Igor as keynote speaker, follow Igor on Twitter or contact him via LinkedIn.