With literally thousands of cryptocurrrencies already in the wild it’s good to know which ones could have staying power. One surprising addition to that list is Dogecoin, which differs from other cryptocurrencies because it began as little more than a joke, but has evolved into a viral sensation that could keep it going far into the future.
Let’s get to know more about the lovable Dogecoin.
Dogecoin Review: The History of Dogecoin
Dogecoin, with the ticker symbol DOGE, began as little more than an internet forum joke. The initial idea for Dogecoin came from Jackson Palmer, while the programming was performed by Billy Markus. The coin started as little more than a fun project that built on the popular doge meme of a Shiba Inu.
Neither man had any idea how the funny little coin would take off and grow to epic proportions.
Rather than remaining a curiosity, the Dogecoin quickly attracted interest from large internet communities. These users shared the coin by creating more memes and internet forum posts, and the viral nature of the coin continued to grow.
All that hype really boosted the Dogecoin, and as of September 2018 it remains the 20th largest cryptocurrency by market cap, even though most consider it as little more than a curiosity.
And that’s how the joke coin survived, grew and thrived, even while highly promoted cryptocurrncies and projects fell by the wayside. It was the community that grew up around the coin that gave it such support and created its amazing success.
Dogecoin Review: Team
Jackson Palmer first came up with the idea of Dogecoin, making a tweet joking about it and later buying the domain dogecoin.com after being encouraged by other internet users. He wasn’t able to do the programming of the blockchain, but Billy Markus came across the idea in a forum post, reached out to Palmer and offered to build the tech behind the coin.
Markus had previously wanted to build a cryptocurrency with a lighthearted vibe that would distance it from the darker side of cryptocurrencies that conjured ideas of drug trafficking and other nefarious purposes.
Dogecooin became the perfect project for his vision.
Soon after its creation Dogecoin began growing and carving out what would become its rather large niche in the cryptocurrency ecosystem.
The initial growth came thanks to internet forum users, who found it easy to pass around Dogecoins as “tips” for interesting and entertaining posts in internet forums.
Compared with major cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Litecoin, Dogecoin was seen as extremely inexpensive. At the zenith of Dogecoin usage there were probably tens of thousands of DOGE being passed around on social media sites such as Reddit and Twitter every single day.
So, the team behind Dogecoin also extends to the user community, without whom Dogecoin would never have found even a small toehold, and would likely have passed quickly into obscurity.
Today Dogecoin remains popular because of that large and active community, and because it’s still a fun and interesting coin that’s perceived as being inexpensive.
Dogecoin Review: Overview
Like many other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin was created as a peer-to-peer decentralized cryptocurrency that allows users to send and receive money to each other online quickly, easily and inexpensively.
Also considered a digital currency, Dogecoin gained momentum incredibly rapidly, and this pushed it into realms that had never been expected, including charitable uses such as raising money for a bobsled team in a developing country and funding water wells in other developing countries.
It’s surprising given the humble beginnings, and the fact that everyone knows Dogecoin was created as little more than a lighthearted lark, but Dogecoin remains one of the most popular cryptocurrencies. Fresh mining power continues to be directed towards Dogecoin, continually improving its hash rate.
In fact, since Dogecoin is mined along with Litecoin, the network security of Dogecoin can easily be improved simply through the hashing power of the Litecoin network.
While the co-founders of Dogecoin have since stepped away from the project, the lead team of developers continue to be spurred on by the community, who are fiercely loyal to the little coin with the image of a Shiba Inu.
As long as this community backing remains, DOGE will continue to thrive.
Dogecoin and Innovation
Ok, so Dogecoin isn’t innovative in the technological sense.
However, it is innovative in the way that it spread and gained something like mainstream adoption within the crypto-community without spending a single satoshi on marketing.
Dogecoin’s innovation is its viral nature.
That virality may be nothing more than luck on the part of the developers, who chose to use the Shiba Inu meme as a way to maintain a lighthearted, fun altcoin that lacked the seriousness that was attaching itself to Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies.
In short, the creators made a cryptocurrency that evoked good feelings in its users.
Because of its doge mascot it was seen as something of a fun and cute toddler in the room full of adult cryptocurrencies. Instead of evoking serious feelings and economics, anonymity, privacy and cryptography, the Dogecoin evoked a feeling of playfulness and community.
That was a game changer.
DOGE was the perfect way for users to “pay” each other on social media. Active users on sites such as Reddit, Twitter, Imgur and others found DOGE an excellent way to reward one another for creating excellent ideas and entertaining content.
Before DOGE there wasn’t a way to monetize your profile on most of these social media sites, even if you had a million followers, but DOGE made it easy for users to share with one another monetarily. Plus they were fun to use.
Can you Mine DOGE?
The short answer is yes.
DOGE uses the same Proof-of-Work algorithm as Litecoin – Scrypt. This allows miners to continue using the GPU of their computer to mine, although it is far easier to mine DOGE with an ASIC rig.
DOGE was unique initially in that mining blocks produced random rewards, but that was changed in March 2014 and DOGE blocks now reward users with 10,000 DOGE.
The way DOGE is currently setup you’ll be able to mine it forever, as there is no cap to the amount of DOGE that is able to be produced.
What’s Needed for DOGE Mining
You can get started with just the basics; electricity, internet access, a computer with a graphic card, and a wallet that supports DOGE. It’s also helpful for you to use a mining pool rather than mining on your own. This will even out the earnings for you. Finally, you’ll need specialized mining software, but no worries because it’s free.
The great thing about mining is you can do it when your computer is idle, meaning you’re gaining something from an asset that would otherwise just be sitting there.
I should mention that if you’re mining with your GPU you likely won’t be making very much DOGE. That’s because there are machines made specifically for mining. These are called ASICs (application specific integrated circuit) and they are very powerful mining machines. ASICs dominate many of the coins they can be used to mine, and Dogecoin is one of those.
Dogecoin Wallets
When it comes to Dogecoin you have a number of wallets to choose from for storing your DOGE. The best choice is to use the native wallet provided on the official Dogecoin site. There are desktop versions available for Windows, OS X, and Linux as well as a mobile version for Android.
You can also use third party wallets such as JAXX or Coinomi to store your DOGE. In addition, there are online wallets available like the one at dogechain.info. And you can even store your DOGE in an exchange wallet, although I wouldn’t recommend it.
If you’re really concerned with security you can also use hardware wallets such as the Ledger Nano S to store your DOGE. Yes the hardware wallet comes with a cost, but it is also the most secure way to store cryptocurrencies, and you can store more than just DOGE.
How to get DOGE
I can think of four different ways to acquire some DOGE and get started with this fun cryptocurrency.
1. The quickest and easiest way is to just head over to an exchange and buy some DOGE. Of course this assumes you already have some BTC or ETH since you’ll need those to exchange for your Dogecoins. You can buy DOGE at most exchanges, although it hasn’t been listed at Binance.
2. If you’re a Reddit or Twitter user you might get paid in DOGE if you post something that’s extremely funny, useful or entertaining.
3. You learned about mining DOGE above and you can set up a spare computer to mine, or just mine with your main computer when you’re not using it.
4. Finally, you can register with a faucet and simply have DOGE given to you.
What are DOGE Faucets
A faucet is a website that gives you a small amount of cryptocurrency simply for registering and completing a captcha or clicking an ad. They were originally created as a way to introduce people to cryptocurrencies and to increase the usage of cryptocurrencies.
There are many different faucets and you’re free to use more than one if you like, but don’t think you’re going to get rich from these crypto-handouts. The amount of DOGE you’ll receive is extremely small – worth far less than $0.01 even. It is a quick and easy way to get your first few DOGE though.
What’s Better – DOGE or BTC
You can’t really say one is better than the other. On the one hand Bitcoin is considered far more valuable, and is used for a huge number of applications and reasons. DOGE is also used frequently, but for much smaller transactions usually.
Both are peer-to-peer decentralized currencies, but the real difference between the two is in the algorithm used by each.
Bitcoin uses an algorithm known as SHA-256 and Dogecoin uses an algorithm known as Scrypt. SHA-265 requires far more computing power and electricity when compared with Scrypt, making Bitcoin more expensive to mine.
Scrypt does still use electricity and computing power, but it also uses memory as Scrypt generates a lot of random data that needs to be stored in memory and later used to generate hashes.
So, neither is necessarily better than the other, it simply depends on your preferences and needs.
Dogecoin Price History
As of late September 2018 the price of 1 DOGE is at $0.005725, which is almost double its August low of $0.002159. This is quite impressive for DOGE as the doubling occurred during a flat to bearish market overall in cryptocurrencies.
The Dogecoin community remains very active and with more and more merchants choosing to accept DOGE there’s no surprise that the coin has been gaining in value. There have also been more users embracing the tipping ecosystem on social media, which also has a positive impact on the price of DOGE.
Perhaps it’s a sign of even more strength to come and DOGE can reclaim its all-time high of $0.0164 soon.
Dogecoin Review: Conclusion
Dogecoin might have been nothing more than a fun project meant to downplay the seriousness of Bitcoin and other cryptocurrency projects, but it has become far more than that. While it maintains a lighthearted view, it is a serious cryptocurrency and has a bright future. Whether being used for charitable causes, or as a digital asset to purchase goods and services, Dogecoin has serious uses.
There’s no joke when looking at the technology behind Dogecoin either. It is faster and has lower transaction fees than Bitcoin, Ethereum and Litecoin. In fact, it is probably one of the most effective cryptocurrencies for everyday spending.
Investors may not appreciate Dogecoin because of its inflationary infinite supply, but it’s a great transactional coin, and has an extremely loyal community behind it. This alone could be enough to keep Dogecoin moving forward and giving its early adopters “wow” “much profit”.