3D render of a yellow Dogecoin coin featuring a Shiba Inu face behind a large white letter D.

Dogecoin

2013Cryptocurrency / meme coinsemi-active

Published March 10, 2026 · Updated March 14, 2026

Also known as: DOGE · Ð · Dogecoins

Dogecoin is a cryptocurrency launched on December 6, 2013, by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer as a joke riffing on the Doge meme and Bitcoin hype5. Widely considered the first "meme coin," it went from a parody altcoin to a multibillion-dollar digital currency, peaking at over $85 billion in market cap in May 20212. Its community, self-dubbed "shibes," funded everything from the Jamaican bobsled team's Olympic trip to a NASCAR car wrapped in a Shiba Inu's face1.

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Overview

Dogecoin, an open-source, peer-to-peer digital currency running on a proof-of-work blockchain using the Scrypt algorithm, the same technology behind Litecoin8. Its ticker symbol is DOGE and its currency sign is Ð. The coin leans heavily into internet humor: Comic Sans font throughout, the word "mine" swapped for "dig" (because dogs dig, not mine), and a Shiba Inu plastered across all branding11.

Unlike Bitcoin's hard cap of 21 million coins, Dogecoin has no maximum supply6. Around 10,000 new DOGE are created per block, with blocks mined every minute, adding roughly 5.256 billion coins per year to the circulating supply12. This inflationary design was intentional. It's meant to encourage spending rather than hoarding, making DOGE better suited for tipping and microtransactions than for long-term value storage3. The coin's one-minute block time also gives it faster transaction speeds than Bitcoin for everyday payments12.

The official tagline is "Do Only Good Everyday," and dogecoin.com describes it as "the accidental crypto movement that makes people smile"10. The community is known for charitable fundraising, absurd stunts, and an infectious enthusiasm that attracted users who'd never otherwise touch cryptocurrency9.

Origin & Background

Platform
Twitter (initial joke), Dogecoin.com / Bitcointalk (launch)
Key People
Jackson Palmer, Billy Markus
Date
2013

On November 27, 2013, Jackson Palmer, a marketing professional at Adobe's Sydney office, tweeted that he was "investing in Dogecoin, pretty sure it's the next big thing"4. It was a throwaway joke combining two of the internet's hottest topics: cryptocurrency and the Doge meme. Friends encouraged him to follow through16.

One night after work, Palmer bought the domain Dogecoin.com, Photoshopped the Doge Shiba Inu onto a coin, and put up a splash page in Comic Sans with a note: if you want to make this real, get in touch11.

On the other side of the world in Portland, Oregon, IBM software developer Billy Markus spotted the website. Markus had just built a cryptocurrency called "Bells," named after the currency in Nintendo's Animal Crossing, but the crypto community hadn't gotten the joke11. He emailed Palmer, and without waiting for a reply, started building Dogecoin's code anyway.

The technical work was fast. Markus forked the protocol from Luckycoin, itself derived from Litecoin5. He changed the font to Comic Sans, swapped every mention of "mine" for "dig," and set the initial supply at 100 billion coins with randomized mining rewards11. "From 'that seems like it's funny' to actually doing it took about three hours," Markus told CNET11.

Neither founder premined any coins. Markus was the first person to mine Dogecoin on his gaming PC, but his computer couldn't keep up after about five minutes as other miners piled in. He split what he'd mined 50-50 with Palmer11. They pushed the cryptocurrency live on December 6, 20133.

How It Spread

Dogecoin picked up users at a speed that shocked both founders. Within 30 days of launch, Dogecoin.com drew over one million visitors5. By December 19, just 13 days after going live, the coin's value jumped nearly 300% in 72 hours, rising from $0.00026 to $0.0009518. This happened while Bitcoin and most other altcoins were crashing after China banned bank investment in cryptocurrency. Dogecoin was one of the only coins that went up during the crash16.

Reddit's r/Dogecoin became the coin's center of gravity. Users tipped each other DOGE through the "dogetipbot," a Reddit bot that let people send small amounts of Dogecoin as rewards for good posts15. The low value of each coin made tipping feel playful rather than transactional. By 2014, the bot had processed roughly $150,000 in tips among 56,000 users15.

On Christmas Day 2013, the wallet platform Dogewallet was hacked, with millions of coins redirected to a single address19. The hack became the most-tweeted altcoin event at the time5. The community responded by launching "SaveDogemas," a donation drive that raised enough to reimburse every affected user within about a month5.

In January 2014, Dogecoin's trading volume briefly surpassed that of all other cryptocurrencies combined, including Bitcoin9. That same month, the community raised $30,000 to send the Jamaican bobsled team to the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi14. They raised $25,000 for a UK service dog charity and $30,000 for clean water wells in Kenya1.

The NASCAR sponsorship brought peak visibility. In March 2014, members of Reddit's r/NASCAR noticed driver Josh Wise was racing without a sponsor. They appealed to r/Dogecoin, and within eight days, 1,200 donations averaging $41 each raised 67.5 million DOGE, worth roughly $55,0001. The car's design was crowdsourced on Reddit and the #98 was nicknamed the "Moonrocket"17. The Moolah.io founder accidentally donated 20 million DOGE by adding an extra zero but honored the mistake2.

Platforms

RedditTwitterTikTokElon Musk's social mediaCryptocurrency exchanges

Timeline

2013-12-06

Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus launched Dogecoin as a joke cryptocurrency, combining the viral Doge meme with a forked Luckycoin protocol built in about three hours.

2014-01-01

The r/dogecoin subreddit grew into an enthusiastic community that funded charitable stunts including sponsoring NASCAR driver Josh Wise and sending the Jamaican bobsled team to the Winter Olympics.

2020-01-01

Dogecoin began a gradual value increase and gained mainstream awareness, fueled by Elon Musk calling it "my fav cryptocurrency" in a 2019 tweet.

2022-01-01

Dogecoin declined over 70% from its peak but remained a legitimate cryptocurrency with an active community and major exchange listings.

2023-01-01

Dogecoin maintained mainstream recognition and continued trading on major exchanges despite the broader crypto market downturn.

2024-01-01

Dogecoin remained in the top tier of cryptocurrencies by market cap, with periodic price surges tied to Elon Musk's social media activity and broader crypto market trends.

2025-01-01

Dogecoin continues to be actively traded and discussed across platforms, enduring as the original meme cryptocurrency and a symbol of internet culture's influence on finance.

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