Benzinga - Now one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies and the ninth-largest by market capitalization, Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) started as a joke 10 years ago.
Over the years, the cryptocurrency has gained a large following and produced strong returns for early investors.
Here's a look back on the 10th anniversary, plus a look ahead.
Launch: The cryptocurrency was created on Dec. 6 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus.
The coin was meant to be a satirical coin to mock Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC). Over time, it gained support from a loyal community.
Palmer bought dogecoin.com and connected with Markus, who had previous experience with altcoins, including making a coin based on the Bells currency in the Animal Crossing video game.
The duo made the crypto in just a couple of hours. Markus previously said much of the time on development was spent changing the font of the coin to Comic Sans.
The cryptocurrency was based on the iconic Doge meme that stars Kabosu, a Shiba Inu dog. The meme would later sell for 1,696.9 Ethereum (CRYPTO: ETH), or around $4 million in 2021 as the price of Dogecoin soared.
A profile was created on Bitcointalk.org on Dec. 6, 2013. A subreddit (r/Dogecoin) was created on Dec. 8, 2013 and the coin opened for trading on Dec. 15, 2013.
One of the early use cases for the coin was to be used as a tipping bot on Reddit.
The price of Dogecoin went from around $0.0002 to $0.002 in two weeks, marking a significant return for early investors.
The coin saw a rise in 2017 alongside other altcoins before falling in price by the end of 2018.
In 2019, Tesla CEO Elon Musk became a central figure in the digital asset’s timeline. He interacted with the coin on social media after being named the fictional CEO of Dogecoin.
"Dogecoin might be my fav cryptocurrency," Musk replied to the poll, marking his first tweet about Dogecoin.
Musk would go on to post about Dogecoin many times going forward.
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2021 Marks Breakout Year: The 2021 year kicked off with Dogecoin becoming a trending topic on social media and the Google search engine. The coin started the year trading at $0.0047 but would quickly find its way over one penny and towards new highs.
During the 2021 year, Dogecoin trended on social media. It saw customer demand lead to the cryptocurrency getting added to additional trading platforms, including Coinbase Global (NASDAQ:COIN).
Publicly traded Conagra Brands (NYSE:CAG) also mentioned Dogecoin during a conference call. The cryptocurrency was used in memes and for social media mentions for its Slim Jim brand. The inclusion of Dogecoin led to increased social media engagement for Slim Jim.
The Dallas Mavericks NBA team began accepting Dogecoin as a payment option. Team owner Mark Cuban praised the cryptocurrency several times and later sharing that he was an owner of Dogecoin.
Doge Day was celebrated on April 20, 2021 with many believing the cryptocurrency could push past the $1 level, but it failed to do so.
Later in the year, movie theater chain AMC Entertainment Holdings (NYSE:AMC) joined the fun with the company engaging with the Dogecoin community and announcing it would accept the cryptocurrency as a payment option online.
Other retailers also joined in with the accept Dogecoin movement in 2021.
Arguably the greatest moment for Dogecoin came in May 2021 with Musk appearing as the host of "Saturday Night Live." While on the show, Musk discussed Dogecoin several times and the coin ultimately hit an all-time high of $0.7376 around the time the show aired, before falling from its peak.
What's Next: Questions remain about whether Dogecoin can get back to its all-time highs. Recall how the coin experienced a record-breaking year in 2021.
Musk continues to be a voice for the rise of Bitcoin and his purchase of social media platform Twitter, now known as X, could be a future catalyst. To integrate payments into the platform, some believe that Dogecoin could play a future role for X.
Another potential catalyst continues to be more retailers accepting Dogecoin as a form of payment. Musk previously issued a challenge to restaurant company McDonalds (NYSE:MCD). The X owner said he would eat a Happy Meal live if the chain accepted Dogecoin.
McDonalds continues to be a target of Dogecoin investors pushing for more retailers to accept the cryptocurrency.
Many Dogecoin investors have shared price targets that are significantly higher than the all-time highs. The forecasts come as many cryptocurrencies are breaking out to close out the 2023 year.
Here's to 10 years for Dogecoin and many more for the Good Boi.
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