The Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency created by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer as a fun alternative to Bitcoin.

Dogecoin features the face of the Shiba Inu dog from the “Doge” meme as its logo and namesake. It was introduced on December 6, 2013, and quickly developed its own online community, reaching a market capitalization of US$85,314,347,523 on May 5, 2021.

Unlike Bitcoins, whose maximum possible number is fixed at 21 million (a figure thet estimated to be reached by 2040), Dogecoin numbers do not have an upper limit, and there are already more than 100 billion in existence.

So, What is behind Dogecoin’s rise?

Elon Musk, who frequently tweets have added to the digital token’s mania. Musk had once changed his Twitter bio to “Former CEO of Dogecoin”. Other celebrities, including rapper Snoop Dogg and rock musician Gene Simmons, have also promoted it on social media.

Why some are concerned?

Some investors have expressed fears that Dogecoin’s rise would lead to a bubble, given that buyers do not see any meaningful value in the digital token, and are only trading to make money while the price keeps going up.

Without having any intrinsic value such as gold or land, cryptocurrencies are considered highly volatile, and may crash as fast as they can rise, experts say, making them susceptible to sudden scares as well as manipulation by small groups who often hold large numbers of the virtual currency in circulation.

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