Dogecoin Celebrates 12-Year Milestone: From Meme Joke to Crypto Mainstay
Twelve years on, the doge meme that roared.
What started as a literal joke—a Shiba Inu slapped onto a Bitcoin fork—has outlived countless 'serious' projects. Dogecoin's 12-year run defies every sober financial analysis that ever dismissed it. It survived crypto winters, regulatory crackdowns, and its own creators walking away.
The Unkillable Community
Its secret weapon was never the tech. It was the vibe. While other coins preached revolution, Dogecoin perfected the art of the tip and the charitable pump. It turned 'to the moon' from a hopeful slogan into a self-fulfilling prophecy, fueled by Reddit threads and billionaire tweets.
A Thorn in the Side of Traditional Finance
For Wall Street, Dogecoin remains the ultimate irritant—a multi-billion dollar asset class born from an internet meme, making a mockery of valuation models and proving that, sometimes, the market really is just a popularity contest. It’s the asset that reminds every fund manager that their Ivy League degree can't compete with a viral hashtag.
So here's to the coin that wasn't supposed to last. Twelve years in, it's not just surviving; it's a permanent, chaotic fixture in the digital asset landscape. A lesson that in crypto, utility is optional, but community is everything.
Why was Dogecoin created?
After the creation of Bitcoin in 2009, there were no alternative cryptocurrencies for two years. People were still learning about blockchain and mining, and at the time, Bitcoin was mined using CPUs.
In 2011, the first altcoin was created, called Namecoin. Other altcoins like Litecoin, Peercoin, and Feathercoin were released in 2011–2012. Most altcoins were technical experiments. There was no real traction from retail investors.
The cryptocurrency space was serious and filled with high technical jargon. In late 2013, BTC shot from $13 to $1,100, and altcoins gained real traction from retail investors.
Billy and Jackson thought crypto was extremely serious, and there was no fun. The duo decided to create Dogecoin. Jackson worked on DOGE’s website while Billy developed the memecoin and released it to the public.
The logo of Dogecoin is based on a photo of a Japanese shiba inu dog meme. The website of Dogecoin recorded 1 million visitors in the first month.
DOGE grows instantly
Surprisingly, DOGE gained instant traction. Redditors started using it as a tipping currency. After two weeks, DOGE surpassed BTC in terms of daily transactions. On December 19, 2013, DOGE climbed by ~300% in 72 hours. The memecoin jumped from $0.00026 to $0.00095.
Dogecoin helped raise funds for a bunch of charity organizations. The Dogecoin community built clean water wells in Kenya, and they even helped the Jamaican Bobsled Team go to the Sochi Winter Olympics.
In 2021, Dogecoin saw a massive run due to Elon Musk’s endorsement. The memecoin jumped to $0.7316 and was on the way to hit the $1 price point.
Fast forward to 2024–2025, Elon Musk continued his push for Dogecoin through the creation of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). DOGE helped curb overspending in the US government.
At the time of writing, DOGE ranks in the tenth spot on CoinGecko with a market cap of $22.47 billion. The memecoin has a 24-hour trading volume of $596 million and stands at $0.1393.
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