{"id":18551,"date":"2021-03-10T10:26:31","date_gmt":"2021-03-10T10:26:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/bitcoinprbuzz.com\/?post_type=blog&p=18551"},"modified":"2021-04-08T16:23:39","modified_gmt":"2021-04-08T15:23:39","slug":"dogecoin-the-joke-that-made-billions-the-evolution-story","status":"publish","type":"blog","link":"https:\/\/wire.bitcoinprbuzz.com\/blog\/dogecoin-the-joke-that-made-billions-the-evolution-story\/","title":{"rendered":"Dogecoin, the Joke That Made Billions. The Evolution Story"},"content":{"rendered":"

Dogecoin, the Joke That Made Billions<\/span><\/h2>\n

From joke to a top ten cryptocurrency and one of the most devoted communities in crypto<\/span><\/h4>\n

When the cryptocurrency Dogecoin (DOGE)’ comes up in conversation today, it is usually mentioned alongside household names like Elon Musk’ or the now-notorious r\/WallStreetBets<\/a> Reddit page. Four years ago, however, you would be lucky to find anyone that knew of its existence. So what PR magic transpired that propelled DOGE from a meme-inspired marketing joke to one of the biggest names in the crypto-sphere?<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Dogecoin\u2019s Comical Origins<\/span><\/h3>\n

Dogecoin was created from a fork of Luckycoin (previously Litecoin) on December 6th, 2013 by Adobe Product Marketing Manager Jackson Palmer and software engineer Billy Markus but the project was never intended to be an earnest venture. In fact, you could claim that its creators did just about everything they could to make sure that DOGE was never taken seriously<\/a>.<\/p>\n

The DOGE image was based on a bizarre internet meme of a Japanese Shiba Inu dog that barked meaningless catch-phrases. There was also the matter of a supply of 100,000,000,000 tokens, and a random mining block reward schedule that offered miners no assurance of even breaking even for their efforts. Hardly the recipe for the next big altcoin sensation.<\/p>\n

The story reads much like the Mel Brooks film \u201cThe Producers\u201d in which Max Bialystock and accountant Leo Bloom set out to make a theater production with the intention of failing so they could avoid paying their shareholders and pocket the proceeds themselves. Well, Jackson and Billy never intended to bilk anyone out of their money but by all appearances, they did set out to make DOGE a commercial failure. Much like Max and Leo, though, they failed to account for people\u2019s penchant for the ridiculous.<\/p>\n

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Early Adoption and Community Philanthropy<\/span><\/h3>\n

Despite setting out to make the project as \u201cas ridiculous as possible\u201d, the Dogecoin Reddit page r\/dogecoin surpassed 19,000 users and the token price saw a 300% rise<\/a> in market value after just two weeks. Shortly after, its developers tweaked the mining schedule to one similar to Bitcoin in early 2014 to make it more attractive to miners.<\/p>\n

Strong early adoption of DOGE was spurred on by the tenacious and generous nature of the Dogecoin community, which donated to multiple sports-related causes throughout 2014. This generous reputation is one that still rings true today and is one of the early factors attributed to the coin\u2019s continued success. The Dogecoin Reddit community gave generously to various charitable causes throughout 2014, including:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Raising $30,000 in DOGE in a few hours to send the Jamaican Bobsled team to the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.<\/li>\n
  • Funding Olympic athlete Shiva Keshavan with over $7,500 worth of DOGE to enter the same Winter Olympic games.<\/li>\n
  • Contributing $50,000 on March 11th, 2014 to support a clean water charity in Kenya.<\/li>\n
  • Donating Over 67 million DOGE amounting to $55,000 on March 17th, 2014 to help struggling Nascar driver Josh Wise secure a sponsorship deal and enter the Talladega Superspeedway race.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

     <\/p>\n

    These acts of philanthropy furthered the project’s reputation and attracted attention in the mainstream media. The Jamaican bobsled team funding story had an air of Disney about it and was picked up by major news outlets in the US, UK, and Russia. The #98 Moonrocket Nascar was also adorned by the Shiba Inu meme, representing the first time the face of DOGE was seen by patrons at a real sports event. That proved to be a marketing masterstroke.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    Dogecoin: A Viral Sensation<\/span><\/h3>\n

    \"dogecoin<\/p>\n

    The years that followed saw DOGE spend time in the doldrums, relative to the success of Bitcoin and others in the same period, as its original creators abandoned the project and development stagnated.<\/p>\n

    But the last 12 months have seen a meteoric rise of DOGE with the project gaining a growing list of influential celebrity followers including Netflix\u2019s \u201cTiger King\u201d star Carole Baskin, Snoop Dogg, Gene Simmons, and most notably, Tesla CEO Elon Musk.<\/p>\n

     <\/p>\n

    \n

    On the actual moon<\/p>\n

    \u2014 Elon Musk (@elonmusk) February 24, 2021<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n