狗狗幣Dogecoin是什麼？讓Elon Musk也瘋狂 狗狗幣的起源、用途介紹 #虛擬貨幣 (160001)
GME軋空事件震撼了美國金融圈，除了股票市場動盪之外，虛擬貨幣也連帶受到了影響。日前台灣中央銀行粉絲專頁發表了一篇介紹「狗狗幣」的貼文，狗狗幣(Dogecoin)又稱為「多吉幣」或「旺旺幣」，和比特幣(Bitcoin)同樣屬於虛擬貨幣的一種。2021年初GME事件發生，狗狗幣在美國Reddit鄉民和Elon Musk的連帶鼓吹之下達到超過800%的漲幅，出乎意料地再度成為了金融圈的話題焦點。雖然狗狗幣如今已成為世界上流通的主要虛擬貨幣之一，但事實上，狗狗幣的起源只不過是一句玩笑話，它的建立也可以歸因於網路迷因的流行。為什麼狗狗幣叫做「狗狗幣」？和網路迷因有什麼關係呢？讓我們繼續看下去。
相較於比特幣起源於一篇嚴肅的學術論文，狗狗幣的誕生可說是非常「獨特」，它的創造可以說是網路流行話題的結合，也因此狗狗幣的代表圖案就是知名的迷因Doge。相信大部分的人都曾經看過柴犬Doge(狗狗的實際名字為Kabosu，醋橙，但迷因稱之為Doge)的梗圖，1隻日本柴犬配上特定的文字說明，在台灣尤其以「關於感情的問題我一律建議分手」為最主要的流行。
2013年正逢比特幣興起，許多跟風的山寨虛擬貨幣也像春筍般冒出，而同時鋪天蓋地的Doge梗圖也直接或間接造成了網路使用者的精神汙染。狗狗幣的創始人之一，Jackson Palmer當時是Adobe的員工，他用一種諷刺的幽默感將Doge梗圖和虛擬貨幣結合，製作了一張有著Doge頭像的貨幣。Jackson Palmer將這張惡搞圖案放上Twitter，寫著「投資狗狗幣吧！這將是下一件大事(或譯為『一定可以大賺一筆』)」的貼文內容，在發佈之後，這則貼文很快地受到廣大網友們的迴響，於是Jackson Palmer在網友們的鼓吹之下，買下dogecoin.com網域，並在網站留下訊息，徵求想要讓狗狗幣成真的夥伴。
事實上，Jackson Palmer對於加密貨幣一竅不通，狗狗幣也真的只是一個玩笑話，從來沒有想過會真的實現。然而，IBM的工程師Billy Markus在偶然下看見了狗狗幣的訊息，Billy Markus一直都有研究加密貨幣，希望能夠創造出一款讓人們可以廣泛使用，而非單純使用於投資的虛擬貨幣。於是Billy Markus在見到狗狗幣網站後，聯繫了Jackson Palmer，二人的合作讓狗狗幣正式誕生，並且在網路迷因的散播之下，dogecoin.com網站短短30天之內就有超過百萬名訪客。
▲狗狗幣介紹。創造於2013年12月，由萊特幣(Litecoin，比特幣的改進)中派生出來。狗狗幣將挖礦(mining)改成挖洞(diging)，並且將字體改成Doge迷因中使用的Comic Sans字體。
狗狗幣的創辦人Jackson Palmer曾經提過，狗狗幣和比特幣最大的不同，在於狗狗幣並非為了投資而生，因此它擁有更低的挖礦(挖洞)門檻、更方便的購買方式、以及更低的交易費用。在理想的情況下，狗狗幣被設定為一種輕鬆詼諧的虛擬貨幣，它站在虛擬貨幣投資的對立面，一開始設定為1000億個，後續則改為數量無上限，保護狗狗幣的價格。
因為狗狗幣並不值錢，它最常使用在小費和打賞的情況，網友可以在網路上用狗狗幣表達感謝、支持，且因為一般人無法擁有比特幣等其他虛擬貨幣，狗狗幣正好填補了這樣的空缺，讓對虛擬貨幣有興趣的人更容易參與。狗狗幣也常被使用在慈善行為，在2014年，當狗狗幣社群見到牙買加雪橇代表隊沒有經費參與冬季奧運的時候，他們建立了募款活動，最終成功讓雪橇隊可以出國比賽。
對於雪橇隊的比賽支持讓狗狗幣多出了一種俠義的形象，接下來狗狗幣還完成了肯亞水井挖掘募資計畫、以及在2014年3月成功募集了6780萬狗狗幣(當時約5.5萬美元)，贊助NASCAR駕駛員Josh Wise比賽。Josh Wise讓賽車使用狗狗幣的贊助塗裝，這讓狗狗幣在比賽過程中被評論員提起，車體亮相的同時也為狗狗幣宣傳。
▲狗狗幣塗裝賽車，後來美國狗狗幣鄉民的力量也讓Josh Wise在粉絲投票比賽中勝出。(圖片來源：Wiki)
Good to see @Josh_Wise bring back the @dogecoin helmet last weekend! That was such an awesome deal to be apart of pic.twitter.com/VaLUt3LssY
Elon Musk says that SpaceX is going to ‘put a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon’
Elon Musk tweeted Thursday morning that SpaceX is going to put a dogecoin “on the literal moon.”
Musk regularly tweets memes about both the cryptocurrency and its namesake Shibu Inu.
His company is planning its first civilian space flight to the moon in 2023.
See more stories on Insider’s business page.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk tweeted on Thursday that the aerospace company plans to put “a literal Dogecoin on the literal moon.”
Musk is a vocal fan of the cryptocurrency, and has even bought some for his nine-month old son.
He frequently tweets memes starring Shibu Inus, the “doge” dog breed that gives the cryptocurrency its icon and name. He has also said that he plans to buy a Shibu Inu.
Read more: Elon Musk is pumping stocks, cryptocurrencies, and the energy of 49 million loyal followers to dizzying heights. Experts break down the risks of his incessant tweets, from legal trouble to losses for small investors.
This isn’t the first time Musk has alluded to putting the currency on the moon. In late February, he tweeted a meme of a Shibu Inu in a spacesuit on the moon holding a dogecoin flag.
The phrase “to the moon” is used by traders when they expect stock pricing to surge.
It was used during the GameStop saga in January, when Redditors said they would pump several so-called meme stocks “to the moon.”
Cryptocurrency site Cointelegraph reported that, of the 12 people who have walked on the moon, none brought any currency with them.
Musk’s tweet didn’t specify whether he wanted to bring a physical dogecoin coin to the moon, which are sold as memorabilia but do not function as currency.
SpaceX is planning the first commercial, civilian flight round the moon in 2023, with passengers picked by Japanese billionaire Yusaku Maezawa.
Elon Musk: SpaceX will put ‘a literal Dogecoin’ on the Moon, founder says in possible April Fool
SpaceX will put a “literal Dogecoin on the literal moon”, Elon Musk has said in a possible April Fool.
Mr Musk has a history of launching plans that seem impossible, making it difficult to know whether the SpaceX founder was half- or fully-joking.
The SpaceX founder later responded to a user who suggested that his commitment to taking the coin to space should not be doubted, apparently in agreement. “After all, SpaceX’s first payload to orbit & back was a wheel of cheese,” he wrote.
He has previously suggested that the company would send the “silliest thing we can imagine” on another flight – which turned out to be Mr Musk’s own car, which continues to be in orbit.
But whether the announcement was a joke or not, it caused a very real price spike for the cryptocurrency. The price leapt up as soon as Mr Musk tweeted and has now gained 18 per cent over the last day.
Fans of cryptocurrency and stocks frequently use the phrase “to the Moon” to refer to their hopes for a price surge. Others – including YouTuber Mr Beast – have joked that it would be fitting to put a cryptocurrency on the surface in some form.
Read more:
Cryptocurrencies such as Dogecoin exist as digital information rather than physical objects. In the past, however, real coins have been made out of the virtual currency – so the mission could be fulfilled either with one such coin or simply a hard drive that includes certain bits.
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SpaceX is yet to get close to the Moon, but it has plans for its Starship spacecraft to make trips to visit it soon.
Starship is still in testing, and humans will not make the journey until it has travelled around the Moon without people, and the latest launch of the craft ended in an apparent explosion that remains somewhat mysterious.