狗狗幣Dogecoin「一個玩笑」如何玩到市值突破天際？

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與Bitcoin一樣，「狗狗幣」（Dogecoin）也是加密貨幣的一種，但在近日成為了熱門焦點，皆因其市值暴升。自年初至今，狗狗幣由1美分不到的價格急增至0.7美元的高位，整體市值接近900億美元，比通用汽車公司市值還要高。

到底這隻「小狗」有什麼強大魅力？升值比搭火箭還快？

狗狗幣的起源

狗狗幣創始於2013年，由兩名軟件工程師Billy Markus與Jackson Palmer創設。一開始這不過是一個用作諷刺Bitcoin比特幣的笑話，其標誌是一幅攝自柴犬的頭像，名稱以Doge取代Dog，添一點可愛的感覺。

儘管在2014年狗狗幣曾嘗試過用作籌款及集資，用作慈善及宣傳活動，但狗狗幣一直沒有實際用途，不被視為付款手段，交易金額亦相當細小。價格至2021年，也不過維持在1美分以下。

馬斯克的不停吹棒

直至2021年，狗狗幣才開始再次受到注目，其中一個是在2021年初的GameStop事件。在GameStop股票被持續軋空，股價被瘋狂推高後，價值幾乎等同於零的狗狗幣成為網絡討論區的焦點。與GameStop一樣，當時有大量的網民聲言要把狗狗幣「衝上太空」、「帶到月球」。

這「帶到月球」的承諾，讓狗狗幣在1月價格急升5倍。但真正讓狗狗幣突破天際，是來自Tesla的CEO馬斯克（Elon Musk）的追棒。

馬斯克自1月多次在其個人Twitter上張貼有關狗狗幣的留言，包括雜誌的改圖、動畫電影《獅子王》的改圖、狗狗幣登月的改圖等等。持續的吹棒讓人開始意識到這不僅只是個玩笑。

直到4月，馬斯克重申對狗狗幣的濃厚興趣，並示意會在5月8日出席全國廣播公司（NBC）的深夜喜劇秀《周六夜現場》（Saturday Night Live）為狗狗幣助威。這舉動令狗狗幣瞬速爆升，幣值自4月中不停飆升至今。

升跌無時價值隨時蒸發

不過，狗狗幣與其他加密貨幣一樣，價格波動極大且無法預測。以Bitcoin為例，Bitcoin價格在自2020年尾持續暴漲，價值由年尾的2萬美元急升至今的接近6萬美元。但價錢已自3月開始在高位持續上落，面對電腦的「挖礦潮」出現疲累，誰也無法預料何時下挫，而且當發生時，往往是暴瀉。

加密貨幣交易公司Blockchain的研究負責人希勒曼（Garrick Hileman）警告，狗狗幣的價值隨時蒸發：「特別當這貨幣本來就是個玩笑。」警告投資者要對所有加密貨幣提高警覺。

Dogecoin Falls in Sympathy With Broader Market Despite Crypto’s Miami Heat

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Even social media favorite Dogecoin is taking it on the chin, losing 12% in the last 24-hour period. The sentiment around Dogecoin on social media remains bullish, however, thanks to Elon Musk’s continued preference for the meme coin over fiat and flagship cryptocurrency bitcoin.

Doge vs. Bitcoin

Tech billionaire Elon Musk took yet another swipe at bitcoin, tweeting a broken-hearted emoji in a move that some are interpreting as a sign Tesla could be offloading its massive USD 1.5 billion investment. But crypto investors could get whiplash because Musk soon hinted that he is not over bitcoin with a meme that says, “I miss you.”

Despite the confusion, Matt Wallace, a YouTuber with more than 201K followers on Twitter, says Musk “knows what he is doing.” According to Wallace, the Tesla chief would like to see a flippening in the crypto market, one in which Dogecoin surpasses bitcoin. It will have to leapfrog several other cryptocurrencies first, including Ethereum, which in 2018 was muscled out of the No. 2 ranking by XRP, albeit for a brief period.

Wallace points out that Tesla hasn’t sold its BTC (at least not yet) and that he is not anti-bitcoin. He just likes Dogecoin better.

DOGE Roller Coaster

Dogecoin’s market cap is currently just under USD 47 billion after surpassing USD 52 billion on June 3. DOGE’s Elon Musk-fueled rally recently sent the coin higher by 40%.

The Dogecoin price decline comes as a surprise because major cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase just listed the sixth-biggest cryptocurrency this week. Coinbase already announced that it would add DOGE to its professional trading platform. On June 3, however, the exchange also revealed that Dogecoin will be available for trading on Dogecoin.com for novice and sophisticated investors alike, as well as on its iOS and Android apps. Coinbase is also giving away USD 1.2 million in DOGE as part of a promotion for the listing. To qualify, investors must transact USD 100 in DOGE by June 10.

Story continues

Rival crypto exchange Kraken was quick to seemingly take a light-hearted jab at Coinbase, pointing out that it had the foresight to list Dogecoin back in 2014.

The gains for the Coinbase listing were apparently already built in, as despite today’s declines, Dogecoin is still up 14% for the week.

For a look at all of today’s economic events, check out our economic calendar.

This article was originally posted on FX Empire

Coinbase lists meme currency dogecoin on its exchange

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Dogecoin (PC-Shutterstock)

Cryptocurrency exchange Coinbase launched meme currency dogecoin (DOGE) on its exchange on June 4 enabling customers to buy, sell, convert, send, receive, or store DOGE.

“We launched informational asset pages (see DOGE), as well as a new section of the Coinbase website to answer common questions about crypto,” Coinbase said in a blog post adding that DOGE will be supported on Coinbase.com and in the Coinbase Android and iOS apps.

However, the timing of the listing of the meme currency was unlike the Coinbase precedent in its listing of cryptocurrencies as the exchange typically adds cryptocurrencies to its retail platform a few weeks after first listing on the professional version, Coindesk noted.

The exchange is offering investors to opt-in and purchase $100 worth of dogecoin by June 10, 2021, for a chance to win $1.2 million in prizes.

In 2013, Jackson Palmer, then an employee at Adobe, made a satirical tweet (unfortunately lost to the void) about investing in ‘Dogecoin’, his joke cryptocurrency, he did not actually think people would do it. Jackson Palmer had tied up with Billy Markus, an IBM developer, to create the cryptocurrency.

What started as a ‘joke’ became a phenomenon in the digital cryptocurrency space. By 2014, it became the fifth-largest cryptocurrency in the world and it even spawned convention for its fans in San Francisco creatively titled “Dogecon.”

DOGE has also been a favourite of Tesla and SpaceX founder Elon Musk whose tweets have contributed to the price volatility of the meme cryptocurrency.

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