# Dogecoin
**Dogecoin** (DOGE) is an open-source, peer-to-peer cryptocurrency launched on December 6, 2013 by software engineer Billy Markus and marketer Jackson Palmer as a deliberate joke, forked from Luckycoin (itself a fork of Litecoin) and named for the [Shiba Inu](https://www.edgepedia.org/shiba-inu) "doge" meme that went viral in 2013.[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219) • [2](https://dogecoin.com/dogepedia/articles/history-of-dogecoin/) • [3](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin) Its developers describe it as a community-driven cryptocurrency, and its stated primary function is as a digital currency for tipping, donations, and online purchases, not a store of value.[4](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin) • [5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2064314/000121390025030355/ea0237407-s1_21shares.htm)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Launch | December 6, 2013, by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, as a joke; no premine, no ICO[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219) • [6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) |
| Consensus | Scrypt proof of work (a simplified variant, not SHA-256); one-minute blocks with difficulty readjusted after every block[4](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin) • [7](https://www.cryptocompare.com/media/38553797/dogecoin-whitepaper.pdf) • [8](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin/blob/master/doc/FAQ.md) |
| Supply | No cap; rewards halved every 100,000 blocks until a permanent 10,000 DOGE per block from block 600,000, about 5.256 billion DOGE per year[8](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin/blob/master/doc/FAQ.md) • [9](https://www.findas.org/tokenomics-review/the-tokenomics-of-dogecoin-doge) |
| Security | Auxiliary Proof-of-Work (AuxPoW) merged mining with Litecoin since September 2014 (block 371,337)[6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) |
| Price record | All-time high $0.7316 on May 7, 2021; market cap peaked at $88 billion; later trading roughly 88 to 90 percent below the peak[3](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin) • [10](https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/18/dogecoin-soars-15-as-elon-musk-replies-d-o-g-e-to-question-about-proposed-department-of-government-efficiency/) • [11](https://coinbureau.com/analysis/is-dogecoin-worth-it) |
| Adoption | Roughly 2,500 merchants accept DOGE, including Tesla (merchandise and EV charging), AMC Theatres, and Newegg[12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin) |
| Governance | No on-chain governance, no admin keys, no pause functions; changes require voluntary adoption of new Dogecoin Core releases[6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) |
## How it works
Dogecoin runs proof of work with a target of one minute per block, and the network readjusts mining difficulty after every block rather than on a long interval.[8](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin/blob/master/doc/FAQ.md) It does not use Bitcoin's SHA-256 algorithm; taking cues from Tenebrix and Litecoin, it employs a simplified variant of scrypt, a memory-oriented hashing function.[7](https://www.cryptocompare.com/media/38553797/dogecoin-whitepaper.pdf) The blockchain was originally created as a fork of Litecoin's code and later refactored to operate technically in a manner similar to Bitcoin's.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2064314/000121390025030355/ea0237407-s1_21shares.htm)
**Supply schedule.** The initial block reward was randomized, then fixed at 10,000 DOGE per block in 2014.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2064314/000121390025030355/ea0237407-s1_21shares.htm) Rewards halved every 100,000 blocks through six intervals, and from the 600,000th block a permanent reward of 10,000 DOGE applies with no halving and no maximum supply.[8](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin/blob/master/doc/FAQ.md) • [13](https://www.coingecko.com/learn/how-to-mine-dogecoin) At one block per minute, that is 10,000 DOGE per minute, about 14.4 million DOGE per day, or roughly 5.256 billion DOGE per year.[9](https://www.findas.org/tokenomics-review/the-tokenomics-of-dogecoin-doge) • [14](https://litecoin.watch/articles/litecoin-and-dogecoin-the-merged-mining-alliance-most-people-do-not-understand) Because the issuance is fixed while the base grows, the inflation rate declines over time: scholarship put it near 5 percent with a projection of 3.4 percent by 2025 and 2.5 percent by 2035, and a 2026 analysis measured about 3.38 percent at the current supply.[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219) • [11](https://coinbureau.com/analysis/is-dogecoin-worth-it)
**Merged mining.** Since September 2014, at block 371,337, Dogecoin has operated under Auxiliary Proof-of-Work, which lets Litecoin miners submit work that secures both chains with the same hashpower.[6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) The two remain separate networks with separate blocks, balances, and consensus rules; sharing work does not combine the blockchains or make their security identical, and the two networks' reported hashrates should not be added together.[14](https://litecoin.watch/articles/litecoin-and-dogecoin-the-merged-mining-alliance-most-people-do-not-understand) Before AuxPoW, Dogecoin was vulnerable to attacks from large [Scrypt](https://www.edgepedia.org/scrypt) mining operations, which is what caused its 2013 crash.[12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin) • [1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219)
## History
Markus and Palmer built the coin because they felt cryptocurrency was being taken far too seriously, and launched it without crowdfunding or intent to profit.[2](https://dogecoin.com/dogepedia/articles/history-of-dogecoin/) • [15](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/21030/4337) In its first two weeks Dogecoin rose over 300 percent in 72 hours (from $0.00026 to $0.00095) amid China's ban on banks investing yuan in bitcoin, then crashed 80 percent three days later as large mining pools exploited its low difficulty.[1](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219) The early community centered on a Reddit tipping bot; in one week it had 7,200 users making 10,000 tips totaling 20.6 million DOGE, about $8,000 at then-current rates, and the community famously funded the Jamaican bobsled team's trip to the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.[16](https://www.vice.com/en/article/dogecoins-founders-believe-in-the-power-of-meme-currencies/) • [17](https://www.coinbase.com/en-gb/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-dogecoin)
**The 2021 surge.** [Elon Musk](https://www.edgepedia.org/elon-musk) began tweeting about Dogecoin in 2019, calling himself the "CEO of Dogecoin," and his posts produced significant price movements.[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773067024000268) In January 2021 a Reddit group joked about pumping DOGE as a crypto equivalent of GameStop; with Musk's tweets the price rose 2,000 percent in five days, and in the first months of 2021 prices soared around 7,000 percent overall.[19](https://www.business.rutgers.edu/business-insights/thought-leadership-why-are-meme-coins-so-popular-understanding-how-they-work-and) • [17](https://www.coinbase.com/en-gb/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-dogecoin) On January 28, 2021, after the SatoshiStreetBets subreddit proposed making it the crypto GME, DOGE rose over 800 percent in 24 hours, from $0.0077 to $0.07.[20](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3561300) The peak came at $0.7316 on May 7, 2021, with a market cap of $88 billion.[3](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin) • [10](https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/18/dogecoin-soars-15-as-elon-musk-replies-d-o-g-e-to-question-about-proposed-department-of-government-efficiency/)
**The crash.** When Musk hosted [Saturday Night Live](https://www.edgepedia.org/saturday-night-live) in May 2021 and called Dogecoin a "hustle" during his monologue, the price dropped 40 percent.[18](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773067024000268) • [19](https://www.business.rutgers.edu/business-insights/thought-leadership-why-are-meme-coins-so-popular-understanding-how-they-work-and) By mid-2022 DOGE was back below $0.07, a 90 percent drawdown in fourteen months, and it fell to lows of $0.05 in late 2023 before rebounding to $0.22 in March 2024.[21](https://nexusfi.com/a/cryptocurrency/dogecoin) • [10](https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/18/dogecoin-soars-15-as-elon-musk-replies-d-o-g-e-to-question-about-proposed-department-of-government-efficiency/) As of the latest data it trades roughly 88 to 90 percent below the peak; two trackers differ, CoinGecko reporting 88.4 percent and a Coin Bureau analysis checked August 9, 2026 reporting about 90.5 percent.[3](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin) • [11](https://coinbureau.com/analysis/is-dogecoin-worth-it)
## By the numbers
On-chain supply measured from a Dogecoin Core node via `gettxoutsetinfo` is 156,254,282,865 DOGE; some market sites list a "total supply" near 171 billion DOGE, a figure that does not match what Core reports.[22](https://doge.supply/how-it-works/) Market aggregators put circulating supply at about 156 billion DOGE and market capitalization at about $13.2 billion, with 24-hour trading volume near $585 million.[3](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin) • [23](https://bitinfocharts.com/dogecoin/) Network hash rate is reported at 2.34 PH/s by BitInfoCharts and about 3 PH/s by a comparative analysis, a modest figure next to Bitcoin's roughly 1,000 EH/s.[23](https://bitinfocharts.com/dogecoin/) • [12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin)
## Uses and adoption
Dogecoin was designed to be abundant rather than scarce, and its high supply and low fees kept each coin worth a fraction of a penny for years.[17](https://www.coinbase.com/en-gb/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-dogecoin) • [15](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/21030/4337) Its use cases are tipping, microtransactions, and payments, in contrast with Bitcoin's store-of-value positioning.[24](https://www.okx.ac/en-gb/learn/dogecoin-vs-bitcoin) Approximately 2,500 merchants accept DOGE, including Tesla (for merchandise and EV charging), [AMC Theatres](https://www.edgepedia.org/amc-theatres), GameStop, airBaltic, [Newegg](https://www.edgepedia.org/newegg), and [Mark Cuban](https://www.edgepedia.org/mark-cuban)'s Dallas Mavericks, which began accepting it for tickets and merchandise in March 2021.[12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin) • [25](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/) • [19](https://www.business.rutgers.edu/business-insights/thought-leadership-why-are-meme-coins-so-popular-understanding-how-they-work-and) Average fees are reported at under $0.01 by one comparison and about $0.03 by another, against Bitcoin's $0.31 to $5 range, and the base layer processes roughly 30 to 33 transactions per second versus Bitcoin's about 7.[24](https://www.okx.ac/en-gb/learn/dogecoin-vs-bitcoin) • [12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin)
## How it compares with Bitcoin and Litecoin
Dogecoin produces a block every minute against Bitcoin's ten, and rewards 10,000 DOGE per block against Bitcoin's halving-based schedule.[26](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565211070417) It settles transactions faster and can process more per second, but significantly less computing power is directed at it, which may make it less secure.[5](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2064314/000121390025030355/ea0237407-s1_21shares.htm) Its Scrypt hash rate is roughly 2 to 3 PH/s and is secured primarily through merged mining with Litecoin.[12](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin) It consumes less energy than Bitcoin but remains proof of work.[24](https://www.okx.ac/en-gb/learn/dogecoin-vs-bitcoin) Notably, Dogecoin's market volume exceeded Litecoin's in April 2021 even though its security depends on Litecoin's mining.[27](https://export.arxiv.org/pdf/2210.09884v2.pdf)
## Development and governance
The Dogecoin Foundation was relaunched in 2021 with advisors including founder Billy Markus, core developer Max Keller, Ethereum founder [Vitalik Buterin](https://www.edgepedia.org/vitalik-buterin), and Jared Birchall representing Elon Musk.[25](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/) Only in the summer of 2023, nearly a decade after inception, did the Foundation create a fund incentivizing blockchain development: a Core Development Fund of 5,000,000 DOGE held in a 3-of-5 multisignature wallet, disbursing 500,000 DOGE per Dogecoin Core release to contributors.[15](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/21030/4337) • [6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) The protocol has no on-chain governance, no admin keys, and no upgrade authority; changes take effect only through voluntary adoption of new Core releases.[6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin) The Foundation's commercial arm, House of Doge Inc. (NASDAQ: HODO), became publicly traded on July 1, 2026 through a merger with Brag House Holdings, Inc.[6](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin)
## Recent developments
**The D.O.G.E. confusion.** On October 18, 2024, Musk replied "D.O.G.E" to a question about a proposed [Department of Government Efficiency](https://www.edgepedia.org/department-of-government-efficiency) at a Pennsylvania town hall, and Dogecoin surged 15 percent in 24 hours.[10](https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/18/dogecoin-soars-15-as-elon-musk-replies-d-o-g-e-to-question-about-proposed-department-of-government-efficiency/) On November 12, 2024, President-elect Trump announced Musk and [Vivek Ramaswamy](https://www.edgepedia.org/vivek-ramaswamy) would lead the department, as Dogecoin's market cap swelled to $60 billion and its price rose 12.2 percent in a day to $0.406, up 136 percent in a week.[28](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2024-11-12-trump-confirms-doge-will-be-led-by-musk-326152) The acronym shares a name with the coin but is a government initiative, not a crypto project.
**ETFs and DeFi.** On April 28, 2025, Nasdaq filed a proposed rule change to list the 21Shares Dogecoin ETF under its Commodity-Based Trust Shares rules; the trust holds Dogecoin and values shares daily at 4:00 p.m. ET, with cash creations and redemptions in blocks of 10,000 shares.[29](https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nasdaq/2025/34-103713.pdf) Live U.S. products later included DOJE, GDOG, and TDOG, plus a European 21Shares ETP, but uptake has been modest: the three U.S. ETFs collected about $12 million in net inflows over nearly ten months.[11](https://coinbureau.com/analysis/is-dogecoin-worth-it) • [30](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/01/dogecoin-gets-defi-testnet-as-dogeos-bets-miners-will-eventually-secure-its-apps) On October 1, 2026, DogeOS launched an Ethereum-style DeFi testnet for Dogecoin and proposed an upgrade called OP_CHECKZKP that would let the network verify zero-knowledge proofs computed elsewhere.[30](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/01/dogecoin-gets-defi-testnet-as-dogeos-bets-miners-will-eventually-secure-its-apps)
## References
1. [A History of Dogecoin, SSRN](https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=3091219)
2. [The History of Dogecoin, official Dogepedia](https://dogecoin.com/dogepedia/articles/history-of-dogecoin/)
3. [Dogecoin Price, Market Cap & News, CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/en/coins/dogecoin)
4. [dogecoin/dogecoin, official repository](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin)
5. [21Shares Dogecoin ETF Form S-1, SEC](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/2064314/000121390025030355/ea0237407-s1_21shares.htm)
6. [Dogecoin Token Transparency Filing, Blockworks](https://blockworks.com/token-transparency/filing/dogecoin)
7. [Dogecoin whitepaper](https://www.cryptocompare.com/media/38553797/dogecoin-whitepaper.pdf)
8. [Dogecoin Core FAQ](https://github.com/dogecoin/dogecoin/blob/master/doc/FAQ.md)
9. [The Tokenomics of Dogecoin (DOGE), Findas](https://www.findas.org/tokenomics-review/the-tokenomics-of-dogecoin-doge)
10. [Dogecoin soars 15% as Elon Musk replies 'D.O.G.E', Fortune](https://fortune.com/crypto/2024/10/18/dogecoin-soars-15-as-elon-musk-replies-d-o-g-e-to-question-about-proposed-department-of-government-efficiency/)
11. [Is Dogecoin Worth It in 2026? Coin Bureau](https://coinbureau.com/analysis/is-dogecoin-worth-it)
12. [Bitcoin vs Dogecoin, Spark](https://www.spark.money/tools/bitcoin-vs-dogecoin)
13. [How to Mine Dogecoin, CoinGecko](https://www.coingecko.com/learn/how-to-mine-dogecoin)
14. [Litecoin and Dogecoin: the merged mining alliance, litecoin.watch](https://litecoin.watch/articles/litecoin-and-dogecoin-the-merged-mining-alliance-most-people-do-not-understand)
15. [Fanning Money: The Cultural Economy and Participatory Politics of Dogecoin, IJoC](https://ijoc.org/index.php/ijoc/article/download/21030/4337)
16. [Such Weird: The Founders of Dogecoin, Vice](https://www.vice.com/en/article/dogecoins-founders-believe-in-the-power-of-meme-currencies/)
17. [What is Dogecoin?, Coinbase](https://www.coinbase.com/en-gb/learn/crypto-basics/what-is-dogecoin)
18. [Impact of Musk's remarks on volatility of Bitcoin and Dogecoin, ScienceDirect](https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2773067024000268)
19. [Why Are Meme Coins So Popular?, Rutgers Business School](https://www.business.rutgers.edu/business-insights/thought-leadership-why-are-meme-coins-so-popular-understanding-how-they-work-and)
20. [The Doge of Wall Street, ACM TOIT](https://dl.acm.org/doi/10.1145/3561300)
21. [Dogecoin (DOGE): The Meme That Became a Market, NexusFi](https://nexusfi.com/a/cryptocurrency/dogecoin)
22. [How Dogecoin supply works, doge.supply](https://doge.supply/how-it-works/)
23. [Dogecoin statistics, BitInfoCharts](https://bitinfocharts.com/dogecoin/)
24. [Dogecoin vs Bitcoin, OKX](https://www.okx.ac/en-gb/learn/dogecoin-vs-bitcoin)
25. [Dogecoin price today, CoinMarketCap](https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/dogecoin/)
26. [The doge worth 88 billion dollars, SAGE](https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/13548565211070417)
27. [arXiv preprint on Dogecoin network and market dynamics](https://export.arxiv.org/pdf/2210.09884v2.pdf)
28. [Trump confirms 'DOGE' efficiency dept. will be led by Musk and Ramaswamy, The Block](https://www.theblock.co/news/regulation/2024-11-12-trump-confirms-doge-will-be-led-by-musk-326152)
29. [SEC Order Instituting Proceedings re: 21Shares Dogecoin ETF](https://www.sec.gov/files/rules/sro/nasdaq/2025/34-103713.pdf)
30. [Dogecoin gets DeFi testnet as DogeOS bets miners will secure its apps, CoinDesk](https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2026/10/01/dogecoin-gets-defi-testnet-as-dogeos-bets-miners-will-eventually-secure-its-apps)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Cryptocurrencies and cryptoassets*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026; Oct 15, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license