NEW YORK (AP) — Wow, lots of bull market.
Dogecoin, the cryptocurrency whose mascot is a super cute dog who thinks things like “wow a lot,” has been rising in value since Donald Trump won the presidential election last week. There was another bump after Trump named Tesla’s Elon Musk as one of the heads of a new “Department of Government Effectiveness” which is not a government agency but has the acronym DOGE.
This all makes sense and is perhaps humorous to anyone who is online regularly. For others, here are some explanations of what’s going on:
What is dogecoin?
It is a cryptocurrency that rises and falls in value against the US dollar depending on how much people are willing to pay for it.
At first it was seen as a joke. But over time, dogecoin gathered a group of fans who periodically caused its price to skyrocket. Like other cryptocurrencies, its proponents say it could be used to buy and sell things over the internet without having to worry about a central bank or government affecting the number of cryptocurrencies in circulation.
How much has dogecoin climbed?
A dogecoin – pronounced dohj-coin – was worth less than 16 cents just before Election Day. It has since more than doubled to nearly 38 cents as of Wednesday afternoon, according to CoinDesk. It briefly topped 43 cents earlier Wednesday.
Why is it climbing so much?
Cryptocurrencies have generally been rising since Trump’s election. Bitcoin, which is the most famous digital currency, hit an all-time high above $93,000 after starting the year below $43,000.
Enthusiasm is running high because Trump has adopted crypto and said he wants the United States to be the “crypto capital of the planet” and create a “strategic reserve” of Bitcoin.
What does Elon Musk have to do with all this?
Musk has become one of Trump’s close allies. He is also one of the most famous dogecoin fans. In 2021, Musk played a character on “Saturday Night Live” who had the nickname “Dogefather.”
In 2022, Musk made more headlines when he suggested Maybe Twitter should accept dogecoin as payment for subscriptions.
It all came to a head on Tuesday, when Trump announced the creation of the “Department of Government Effectiveness,” which will work outside of government to provide the White House with “advice and guidance” and partner with the Office of management and budget to “drive broad-based structural reform and create a never-before-seen entrepreneurial approach to government.”
It has the acronym DOGE, which is also the ticker symbol under which dogecoin is traded. Musk will lead it, alongside former Republican presidential candidate Vivek Ramaswamy.
This all seems weird.
The history of Dogecoin is interesting.
In 2021, on April 20, dogecoin fans tried but failed to get a value above $1 for what they called. “Doge’s Day”.
April 20 has long been an unofficial holiday for marijuana enthusiasts, and Musk himself has referenced it several times during his career, including in his 2018 tweet claiming he had secured funding to privatize Tesla at the price of $420 per share.
Does the Shiba Inu whose picture is in the meme get any special treats because of all this?
Unfortunately no. The dog, whose real name was Kabosu, died in Japan earlier this year, at 18. Plenty of rest, may she have.