(Sorry, Shiba Inu — you’re cute, but Doge was here first.)
The head honcho. The numero uno. The grand woofmaster of internet money.
We’re talking about DOGE — the coin that started as a joke, became a meme, then somehow became a movement (and also your cousin’s retirement plan). Born out of Comic Sans and chaos, Dogecoin didn’t ask to be taken seriously — it demanded to be loved ironically until irony turned into obsession.
It’s the coin with no cap, no whitepaper worth framing, and no chill. Yet here we are, more than a decade later, still saying “much wow” while billionaires tweet about it like it’s a national treasure.
Let’s dive into the ridiculous, heartwarming, and occasionally head-scratching story of Dogecoin — where it came from, who made it, where it’s headed, and how it stacks up against its meme-crazed competition.
🛠️ Origins of the Bark: How Dogecoin Was Born
Dogecoin was created on December 6, 2013, by two tech nerds with a sense of humor and too much time on their hands:
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Billy Markus – A software engineer at IBM, known online as Shibetoshi Nakamoto (yes, really).
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Jackson Palmer – An Adobe marketing guy from Australia who originally joked about creating a coin based on the Doge meme.
Palmer tweeted something sarcastic like:
“Investing in Dogecoin — pretty sure it’s the next big thing.”
And then, as the internet does, people took it seriously. Really seriously.
Billy Markus took Palmer’s joke tweet and built an actual cryptocurrency using Litecoin’s codebase — fast, cheap, and infinite. Like, literally infinite. Dogecoin has no supply cap. Why? Because that’s funnier. Scarcity is for gold bugs and boomers.
🐕 Doge’s Rise: From Internet Joke to Internet Darling
Within weeks of launch, the Reddit crowd adopted Doge like it was the official coin of basement dwellers and meme lords everywhere.
Instead of trying to replace banks or “decentralize everything” (looking at you, Ethereum), Dogecoin went straight for the heart:
Charity. Tipping. Vibes. Community.
Some of the very real things Dogecoin did early on:
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Raised $50,000 to send the Jamaican bobsled team to the Olympics.
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Sponsored a NASCAR driver whose car had a giant Shiba Inu on the hood.
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Tipped thousands of dollars’ worth of DOGE to random users for funny comments and good deeds online.
It wasn’t about profits — it was about fun and kindness. Crypto, but with a tail wag.
👋 The Founders’ Exit (and Honda Civics)
Both founders eventually left the project.
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Palmer became disillusioned with crypto altogether and noped out of the industry.
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Markus sold all his Doge for the equivalent of a used Honda Civic (around $10,000) and stepped away, though he remains active online and hilariously sarcastic on Twitter/X.
He’s now the unofficial Doge elder, giving Zen-like crypto wisdom while sipping digital tea in his replies.
🚀 Elon Enters the Chat
In 2020, Elon Musk — meme king, Mars fanboy, and Twitter/X owner — decided to make Doge his favorite coin. Why? No one really knows. Maybe he just likes dogs. Maybe it reminds him of chaos. Maybe he just wanted to watch the world moon.
Either way, the results were insane:
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Doge’s price surged over 10,000% from 2020 to 2021.
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Elon tweeted memes. The internet lost its mind.
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He called Doge “the people’s crypto.”
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He mentioned Doge on SNL, and the price tanked instantly. (Classic.)
Despite the pump-and-dump rollercoaster, Elon still supports Doge and has even accepted it for Tesla merch. He’s hinted at integrating it into X’s future payment system. Will he follow through? Who knows. But when Doge barks, the market listens.
🔮 Where’s Doge Going?
Dogecoin is evolving. Slowly. Kinda like your dad trying to use TikTok.
There’s no massive dev team. No “Dogecoin Foundation” with a billion-dollar war chest. But it does have:
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A passionate community.
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Use cases for tipping and microtransactions.
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Increasing merchant acceptance.
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An actual mascot people recognize.
Markus himself has said that if Doge is going to have a future, it should be as a fun, fast, cheap internet currency. Not a Bitcoin competitor. Not a decentralized finance empire. Just… fun money.
And honestly? That’s enough.
🥊 Meme Coin Showdown: Doge vs. The Rest of the Litter
Let’s be honest. Every meme coin out there is trying to be Doge’s heir. Some are cute. Some are wild. Some are just flat-out scams. But none can touch the original. Let’s compare:
| Meme Coin | Origin Story | Market Vibe | Founder | Actual Use? | Ridiculous Factor |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Doge | Created as a joke in 2013. Accidentally became a movement. | Wholesome chaos | Billy Markus, Jackson Palmer | Yes – tipping, donations, some merchant use | 8/10 (infinite supply, Comic Sans) |
| Shiba Inu | Created in 2020 as the “Doge killer.” Basically a clone, but on Ethereum. | DeFi Bro Energy | Anonymous (Ryoshi) | Kinda. There’s a swap, an NFT ecosystem | 9/10 (literally made a Doge clone and tried to out-Doge Doge) |
| PEPE | Based on a meme frog that already had a complicated legacy. | Internet troll fever dream | Anon devs | No | 11/10 (launched with zero utility, massive hype, pure chaos) |
| Floki | Named after Elon’s dog. Yes, really. | Elon fanfic meets Viking cosplay | ??? | Sort of — they’re building “metaverse stuff” | 10/10 (swords, shields, and zero actual product) |
| Baby Doge | Clone of a clone. But babier. | TikTok hype coin | Unknown | No | 13/10 (just… why?) |
Verdict?
There’s only one true meme king. And he wears fur.
🐾 Final Thoughts: Much Wow, Many Years, Still Going
Dogecoin is the internet’s feel-good accident. A joke that outlived the punchline. A coin that said “we’re not here for world domination — we’re here for lols, tips, and good vibes.”
Maybe that’s why it’s still around.
Maybe that’s why, in a sea of rug-pulls, vaporware, and scams, people still trust the silly Shiba Inu with the Comic Sans grin.
So if you’re in crypto for the laughs, the memes, and a tiny bit of magic, just remember…
Doge didn’t try to be king. He just sat there. And we crowned him.
Much coin.
Very legacy.
Such wow.