like Dogecoin Back from behind BitcoinSome may wonder: Where did the assets come from? What is its purpose? What does Tesla CEO Elon Musk have to do with it?

The boom of the original memecoin is largely thanks to the richest man in the world. Musk's obsession with publishing has helped push the currency to a higher level Top 10 cryptocurrencies.

It's been a strange journey over the past few years, culminating in Musk being appointed to co-lead a government agency called DOGE — yes, really. But we will explain everything.

2018: What is DOGE?

Dogecoin is the largest and oldest meme coin and the second largest proof-of-work cryptocurrency. It was creature In 2013 as a joke by developers Billy Marcus and Jackson Palmer.

The idea was to poke fun at the huge number of altcoin and cryptocurrency projects entering the market after Bitcoin's meteoric rise. The currency enjoyed relative obscurity and a low price during its early years.

But then Musk came along. The eccentric billionaire he asked Ballmer in a 2018 tweet to help solve a Twitter bot problem. Fraudsters have created a number of high-profile fake accounts, Including muskin order to push the negatives of encryption. Scams usually post fake Ethereum gifts.

This was Musk's first real interest in Dogecoin.

2019: Start the pump

Musk started pumping out Dogecoin the following year. “Dogecoin might be my favorite cryptocurrency.” Written in April 2019, in response to a screenshot of a poll from the official Dogecoin account asking who should be the CEO of the cryptocurrency. "It's so cool."

This post will be the first of many that cause the value of the asset to skyrocket. Shortly after Musk's first tweet about Dogecoin, the coin's market cap reached $400 million and cryptocurrency exchange Huobi. included He - she.

However, Musk being Musk didn't stop there: he described himself as Dogecoin CEO - briefly - on Twitter before continuing to fire off tweets He asks If the coin is a “genuinely valid form of currency” or published Memes Associated with the original dog currency.

2020/2021: The Bull Run arrives

Musk I kept pumping Dogecoin's price is here and there with his tweets, but things are already getting started during the 2021 bull run. Major exchanges like Coinbase Pro Listed Dogecoin The original has developed a larger following, not to mention increased mainstream awareness.

DOGE has gained a larger market capitalization than many companies in the S&P 500 index. This was exclusively stated by the developers Decryption That they have The work was done secretly With Musk since 2019 to make the currency a viable payment method and a greener, cheaper alternative to Bitcoin.

But things got even weirder when Musk said... He called himself “Dogefather” before a “Saturday Night Live” skit about the cryptocurrency — once again sending the price of the asset higher. DOGE will jump to its all-time high price of around $0.73 at this time.

Musk's appearance on "SNL" has ended. Being disappointing For Doge fans, the SpaceX president and his mother's hints at the coin eventually led to a drop in its price. However, it continues to bring the strange world of meme coins into the mainstream.

Later that year, Musk Announce That his rocket company, SpaceX, will launch a satellite to the moon — funded entirely by cryptocurrency.

2022: Tesla/Twitter mania

Doge Mania continued Until 2022 when Musk's car company began accepting Dogecoin for merchandise.

Dogecoin continued to experience price spikes when Musk bought Twitter and Rebranded as Xindicating that it will also become a payments platform that may, eventually, to merge OG coin meme.

Things came back to bite Musk later that year, when he was an American He hits The billionaire, Tesla and SpaceX are in a $258 billion lawsuit for allegedly pumping out Dogecoin, an asset with “absolutely no value,” according to the original filing.

But Musk and his lawyers Record a win This year when a judge sided with them and dismissed the lawsuit, calling the tech entrepreneur's tweets about Dogecoin "aspirational and bloated" and noting that "no reasonable investor could rely on them."

2024: Trump, Musk and Dougie

2023 has been a relatively quiet year for Dogecoin, but the meme coin has been on the rise in recent months After Musk supported Republican Donald Trump's campaign for the White House.

This is mostly because Trump said Musk would lead the Government Efficiency Commission before voting again for the seat of power; Musk claimed that the department would be called the “Government Efficiency Administration” — an acronym that matches Dogecoin’s ticker.

Whenever Musk mentioned his future political role with the so-called DOGE before the election, the price of Dogecoin jumped.

But before Trump's surprising election victory, Musk revealed what he likely thought all along: that he's not seriously interested in or involved in Bitcoin, Dogecoin, or any cryptocurrency. He just loves meme currency.

“I'm actually not actively involved in cryptocurrencies.” He said At a mass meeting. “I make Dogecoin jokes and stuff because I kind of love Dogecoin, because it has the best sense of humor and it has dogs and memes, and I love all that stuff.”

However, Dogecoin's price has surged in recent weeks, reaching a three-year high of $0.48 — though it has declined since then, as of this writing. Musk recently He praised Dogecoin's inflation rate They tweeted a familiar meme of A A cloud of dust on Dougie's face Sweeping a city.

And President-elect Trump Make it official That musk, along with Bitcoin expert entrepreneur Vivek Ramaswamy will lead the new management division. Leaders have already done so Talk about big plans for the DOGE divisionplanning substantive recommendations for agency budget cuts and mass dismissals, and going to Capitol Hill to discuss with lawmakers.

Trump is Even selling t-shirts It shows himself and Musk alongside Doge-style artwork.

Modified by Andrew Hayward

Editor's Note: This story was originally published on November 13, 2024. It was last updated with new details on December 21.