What Is Dogecoin How Do You Get It

Dogecoin came into being in 2013, when two software engineers, Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, came up with the idea as a joke. This joke continued on Twitter and gained publicity until Palmer decided to create a website. Markus took up the idea and turned it into cryptocurrency.

The currency is a fork of the defunct Luckycoin. So, Dogecoin is an evolutionary fork that copied Luckycoin’s source code and modified it to create their coin. From the beginning, this coin was marketed as a fun, casual cryptocurrency. It created a huge loyal following within a short period.

During 2014, its loyal community held several fundraisers using the coin. Some of the most notable ones include:

• $50,000 to build several wells in Kenya

• $30,000 to the Jamaican bobsleigh team for that year’s Winter Olympics

• $55,000 for sponsoring Josh Wise, the NASCAR driver

A Bit of Dogecoin’s History

The original creators of the coin left Dogecoin in 2015 and their place was taken by four part-time developers. This coin continued to get marginal returns for the years that followed until its popularity exploded in 2021. From then on, the coin became mainstream.

One of its greatest fans, Elon Musk, was instrumental in its explosive growth. He sent the coin’s capitalisation and price soaring several times after making several positive tweets about it. He also mentioned it several times while talking about investment topics.

Unfortunately, Elon’s Saturday Night Live show had some negative effects on the coin, as he seemed to push it hard on the show. This saw its value plummet by over 75% in just two months. Fortunately, it peaked later and has been doing relatively well.

Where is It Used?

Dogecoin is now a mainstream coin, like Bitcoin and Ethereum. It can be sold, bought and used as a medium of exchange. While it is not as widely accepted as the leading coins in the market, it is actually catching up as many Dogecoin casino sites and merchants look to bundle up several leading cryptos to offer convenience.

You can hold the coin as an investment or use it as your everyday cash to buy goods and services. It has lower gas fees than the market leader and its significantly low price makes it ideal for people who wish to invest in it for the long term.

How Does the Coin Work?

As a fork of a coin that was created like Bitcoin, it uses blockchain to help maintain a decentralised digital ledger that creates a record of all transactions that are made using it. These transactions cannot be altered after they have been created, which creates proof that they actually took place.

It uses a method called proof-of-work and another process called mining to validate the transactions. The miners use computers to solve mathematical equations that verify each transaction and record it on the blockchain. As a reward for doing so, they receive a payment using a given number of Dogecoins.

While it uses a method similar to Bitcoin, it is more efficient. Mining Dogecoin is faster and less energy intensive than a similar process on Bitcoin. Therefore, it has a lower environmental impact than its predecessor.

How Many Coins Are Out There?

As of today, there are over 130 billion coins in circulation. This number was not in the original supply when the coin was created. However, it is an inflationary coin. It means that there is no cap on the number of coins that are available to users at any one time. Years down the line, there might be a huge number of coins.

The starting supply was about 100 billion coins. These coins were all mined before the start of 2015. From then on, there have been more than 5 billion coins mined each year.

How do I Buy Dogecoin?

If you wish to buy Dogecoin, there are just four basic steps to do so. Here is a list of the steps.

1. Check for Dogecoin exchanges on the internet. Then, pick a reputable one and create an account.

2. Complete the verification process as required by the exchange. Most exchanges require you to send scanned copies of your identity documents, such as a passport or driver’s licence.

3. Transfer cash from your bank account to your exchange account. Check if the exchange accepts other methods that you may be using. Pick the method that has the lowest fees.

Here are some leading exchanges:

• Gemini: This exchange also provides educational content on Dogecoin. It added the coin in June 2021.

• CoinBase: This is one of the most popular exchanges in the world. It also listed Dogecoin in June 2021.

• Binance: This is also an international crypto exchange. It has been holding Dogecoin since 2019.

• eToro: This is a trading platform that offers Dogecoin. It has a copyTrader feature that allows you to copy the decisions of the leading traders on the platform.

Once you have bought your Dogecoin, you can keep it in your account or on a crypto wallet. The latter is more recommended, as you have complete control over the coins, and it is a more secure option. Besides, you need a crypto wallet to purchase goods and services on platforms that accept the coin. You can always transfer the coins to your exchange when you wish to trade.