Buy Dogecoin DOGE (€0.0844)

Dogecoin (DOGE) is a peer-to-peer, open-source cryptocurrency. This altcoin gained notoriety as the first ‘memecoin’ and was launched in December 2013. The mascot of Dogecoin is a Shiba Inu dog. Dogecoin's blockchain was originally set up as a joke, but became increasingly popular over the years. The creators of Dogecoin, Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, used the underlying technology of Litecoin and then focused on low prices and unlimited supply.

• Dogecoin is based on Litecoin and thus also uses the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm;
• Dogecoin has a loyal group of followers, including multi-billionaire Elon Musk;
• DOGE was originally created as a joke and was supposed to imitate hyper inflation.

Despite the original intentions of its creators, Dogecoin became hugely popular in the crypto community. This was partly due to the non-serious form of communication and the Shiba Inu mascot. In 2017, many cryptocurrencies achieved huge growth in terms of market cap and so did Dogecoin. However, after the growth spurt in 2017 came also the fall of 2018. Dogecoin lost a large percentage of its value. Something that took several years to recover from. Despite this fall, the DOGE community continued to grow and remain loyal. The non-serious nature and low threshold was very attractive to first-time investors. It soon became clear that Dogecoin was not intended as a store of value, but more as a mechanism for tipping people or services.

Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus are the two developers of Dogecoin. Palmer worked at Adobe’s Sydney office, where he was a product manager. In 2013, he watched the crypto market develop and invented Dogecoin as a ‘satire’ of this technological development. Accordingly, his opening tweet about Dogecoin was quite sarcastic and not serious. However, as is so often the case on the Internet, it was interpreted differently. Palmer received a lot of positive feedback, so much so that he bought the domain dogecoin.com

Markus was a developer at IBM who was researching digital currencies at the time. Billy Markus became interested in the subject as a result and began developing digital coins of his own. Unfortunately, he lacked the marketing knowledge to market his project. When he heard about Dogecoin, Palmer and Markus got in touch. With a partnership as a result.

The basis of DOGE is descended from Luckycoin, which in turn uses the Litecoin basis. Dogecoin uses the Proof-of-Work consensus algorithm, the same as Bitcoin. This ensures that Dogecoin is fully decentralized. The downside, unfortunately, is that Proof-of-Work consumes more energy than Proof-of-Stake, for example.

Two weeks after the launch of Dogecoin, the price immediately pumped up 300%. This would not be the last time. Indeed, Dogecoin was quietly rippling along for years until a certain Elon Musk started tweeting about it. The result? Dogecoin rose to a value of $0.68 each. This constituted a 14,000% increase in the value of Dogecoin since its creation. This was the point at which Dogecoin was taken seriously and also the point that many copies would follow. However, this huge pump had a positive effect. Surprised by its huge success, the creators decided to take it further. And so in late 2021, Dogecoin launched a roadmap for the first time. Dogecoin plans to focus on documentation and utility in the coming years. The adoption will subsequently come naturally. They plan to do this by launching eight projects in the coming years. They have already announced some of these projects. For example, Dogecoin will be writing a whitepaper for the very first time. A whitepaper explains how the coin works and what the proposition is. The fact that Dogecoin did not yet have a whitepaper does indicate that the creators themselves never expected success. The Dogecoin foundation will also focus on setting up a new wallet, which can then be easily implemented on other websites. In this way, stores and services can take advantage of the Dogecoin ecosystem. This innovation, combined with DOGE's popularity, make Dogecoin's future look bright.

The creators of Dogecoin probably didn't expect the coin to be so successful. The currency also began as a joke, with the intention of imitating hyperinflation. Today, Dogecoin is a top twenty coin in terms of market cap and is one of the most well-known cryptocurrencies. This is also due to the enormous popularity it gained in recent years, partly due to the statements of Elon Musk. Let's take a look at the Dogecoin exchange rate over the years.

In 2017, Bitcoin experienced tremendous growth. 2017 is also often seen as the breakthrough year of cryptocurrency. Dogecoin picked up on this growth. The price rose to a value of $0.017 per DOGE. That may not seem like much now, but at the time it was ten times more than the previous peak in 2014. But where 2017 saw a surge, 2018 was unfortunately the year that most cryptocurrencies dropped again. So did DOGE. It dropped to a price of $0.0016 per DOGE in 2018, 2019 and in 2020. This rippled on, until 2021. Where 2017 was the year cryptocurrency became mainstream, 2021 was the year it flew through the roof. Where one cent per DOGE was still the high point, the coin now climbed to 5 cents.

In the 2nd quarter of 2021, the true bull run on Dogecoin could begin. The person responsible for this? Elon Musk. The flamboyant CEO of Tesla and SpaceX, among others, began jokingly tweeting messages about Dogecoin. This resulted mostly in memes and funny comments. But as time went on, Musk became increasingly serious. The absolute highlight? Elon Musk announced that he would be talking something about Dogecoin while hosting Saturday Night Life, a popular American program. In cryptocurrency there’s a saying ‘buy the rumor, sell the news’ and so many people went to buy Dogecoin anticipating a big price increase. In the days leading up to the broadcast, Dogecoin rose to a price of 56 cents per DOGE. Dogecoin had a total market cap of about $95 billion, which is the equivalent of 83 billion euros. During and after the broadcast, it quickly became apparent that this was the absolute culmination and subsequently the price kept dropping. Meanwhile, Dogecoin has lost more than 80% of this market cap.

What the price of Dogecoin will do in the future is difficult to predict. We do know that Musk is accepting Dogecoin in his Tesla merchandise store. A good first step toward adoption. Dogecoin's roadmap has also breathed new life into the currency. Where the coin is often not taken seriously, we cannot deny that its popularity over the years is unprecedented. After the developers actually attach a roadmap to the project, Dogecoin's path becomes a bit different. In any case, we're watching to see what our favorite meme coin will do.

Wallets come in all different shapes and sizes. But what is the best wallet for your DOGE? Of course, that depends entirely on your preference. In any case, we discuss the most common types of wallets below. That way, you can determine which DOGE wallet suits you best. In any case, we always recommend owning your own currencies. That’s why ‘not your keys, not your wallet’ is a well-known saying in the world of cryptocurrency.

You are your own bank by being in control of your own DOGE. If a website or exchange manages your DOGE, your credits may be gone if that website goes offline. Therefore, make a thoughtful choice in advance regarding where to store your Dogecoin. As we mentioned earlier, there are different types of wallets. Hardware wallets, software wallets, paper wallets etc. Below we describe the most common types and the advantages and disadvantages of each type.

Hardware wallets

Hardware wallets are a typical example of security versus convenience. Spoiler alert: hardware wallets are basically the most secure of all types of wallets. You do need to install this physical device on your computer/laptop before you can safely put your DOGE on it. Are you a long-term HODL'er? Put the hardware wallet in the safe and don't touch it again for the next few years. It can be that simple, no one can access your DOGE except you.

Incidentally, this is not entirely true. For example, when setting up your hardware wallet, you must set a PIN. You must also write down 12 or 24 words and keep them safe. This seed phrase provides access to your balances. So never give these to anyone else either! Conversely, however, in the event that you do not have access to your hardware wallet, you can access your assets as long as you have this seed phrase.

It may not be as easy as logging into a website. But it is certainly the safest option. Should you keep large amounts and not trade directly, we always recommend the hardware wallet variant.

Online wallets

The most convenient variant of all, but probably the least secure. One example is the Dogechain wallet. At first glance, it is the most convenient variant. After all, you simply click on ‘New Wallet’ and within seconds you have an address where you can send DOGE. However, what immediately stands out when visiting the website is big red warning.

Online environments are, unfortunately, easy to mimic these days and so wallets like Dogechain are often used for phishing. Websites that look exactly the same, indistinguishable from the real thing. So when using online wallets, always make sure you have the right variant. Again, the trade-off between security and ease of use is entirely up to you.

Software wallets

Software wallets are applications that you can download onto your device. During installation, the application asks if you can write down your seed phrase. This is a list of twelve or twenty-four words that are extremely important. Should your device break down, you can always access your coins through this seed phrase. This software often requires you to connect to the Internet first to synchronize. After all, the program has to extract a lot of information from the blockchain. The beauty of this type of application? You manage your own private keys. So you are in charge of your own assets. Dogecoin has two official software wallets, Multidoge and Dogecoin Core.

In terms of security and ease of use, software wallets sit between hardware wallets and online wallets. They are not as secure as hardware wallets, but on the other hand are easier to navigate. Remember to be alert for malware. By clicking on a phishing or malware link, a little program may be trying to access your software wallet in the background.