Dogecoin, the meme-based cryptocurrency that its creator has dubbed a “joke”, has gained massive popularity in recent weeks.
Dogecoin price has soared thanks to the attention of billionaires, rock stars and YouTubers – with Tesla
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With the dogecoin price up 600% since the end of January, developers who left memecoin long ago are back and plan to update the aging software.
An ironic response to bitcoin, Dogecoin has caught the internet’s attention this year, [+]
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“When it launched, there was a resurgence of attention and we want to keep the currency operational,” Ross Nicoll, dogecoin’s chief maintainer, told bitcoin and cryptocurrency news outlet Coindesk.
Founded in 2013, Dogecoin saw its last major upgrade in June 2019, and now Nicoll, along with four other developers, are looking to roll out another major release within a year to address dogecoin’s scalability and security concerns.
‘We will always give priority to security. I’m not going to say that [development] will not slow down anymore, but we will always be on the lookout for security vulnerabilities to make sure the software stays up to date, ”said Nicoll.
Dogecoin surged in late January as retailers organized through Reddit’s WallStreetBets and Telegram chat groups, frustrated by GameStop
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However, internet savvy entertainers have continued to talk about the ironic bitcoin rival – hoping to take it even higher.
The price of the dogecoin is up more than 600% since the beginning of the year, alongside bitcoin. [+]
Coinbase
“Doge is bitcoin’s younger brother. They have the same potential. It’s still early days,” said YouTuber Jake Paul. via Twitter
Neil Armstrong landed first on the moon, and now the Doge is next. I hold on, ‘Paul added, retweets fellow YouTuber Ben Phillips who has been trying to push up the dogecoin price in recent weeks – predicting it will go to $ 2 in the coming months.
Meanwhile, bitcoin price has continued to climb, hitting an all-time high of more than $ 49,000 per bitcoin this weekend as Wall Street finally embraces cryptocurrencies and Elon Musk’s Tesla revealed it has bought $ 1.5 billion worth of bitcoin.
The surge in the price of bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies, including dogecoin – which was also fueled by a Musk endorsement on Twitter – comes as digital currencies become mainstream due to rising interest from both private and institutional investors, driving mass consumption, and as global interest rates remain historically low, ”said Nigel Green, chief executive of financial advisory group deVere, in an email comment.