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Dogecoin – the crypto-currency based on a meme about an overly enthusiastic Shiba Inu dog – reached an all-time high of 4 cents on Thursday night. This is an incredible fivefold increase during the preceding 24 hours. The crypto-currency traded for less than a cent on Wednesday night.
The Dogecoin event seems to be related to the WallStreetBets phenomenon. The subreddit WallStreetBets was the nerve center of an online move to drive up the value of GameStop and a handful of other stocks in an attempt to bankrupt hedge funds that had large short positions in the stocks. GameStop’s value has risen almost fivefold since the beginning of the week – and more than sixtyfold since last summer.
On Saturday morning, a Twitter account called WSB Chairman (which is not officially associated with the WallStreetBets subreddit). tweeted “has Doge ever been in a dollar?” The answer to the question is “no”, but some members of the WSB community have apparently decided to try to change it.
Dogecoin is a particularly inspired way for the WallStreetBets community to jump into the cryptocurrency world. While many bitcoin and ethereum fans are serious hackers trying to change the world, dogecoin has been a meme-driven joke from the start. Dogecoin gained notoriety especially because the concept was so ridiculous that it was fun to rewrite. And as more people wrote about it, it attracted new converts who offered the price even higher.
The process last peaked in early 2018, when dogecoin peaked at almost 2 cents before crashing along with the rest of the cryptocurrency market. By early 2019, dogecoin had lost nearly 90 percent of its value and traded for a fraction of a cent. It has disappeared into darkness for the past two years.
It is fitting that the first cryptocurrency to have a major impact on the WallStreetBets craze is Dogecoin, probably the first asset to increase its value through the sheer power of social media enthusiasm.