History of Dogecoin and how Elon Musk became the 'Dogefather' of the Memecoin
It started as a joke in 2013 when IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Adobe software engineer Jackson Palmer created a meme coin inspired by the viral meme of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog, and called it Dogecoin.
US President-elect Donald Trump on Tuesday named Elon Musk to lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), which is aimed at dismantling bureaucracy, cutting regulations, and restructuring agencies.
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) November 13, 2024
How Musk's department got its name
The name DOGE for a US government department was first suggested in August by a verified X account that goes by the name Sir Doge of the Coin.
Quoting a report that Trump, the then-Republican presidential candidate, had offered Musk a role in his administration, Sir Doge of the Coin suggested that it should be called the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk was quick to respond by saying "perfect name" and thus DOGE was born.
Perfect name https://t.co/qOUblToy7v
¡ª Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 20, 2024
But this is not the first time the world¡¯s richest man has got involved with DOGE, which is derived from a meme coin called Dogecoin.
Dogecoin
It started as a joke in 2013 when IBM software engineer Billy Markus and Adobe software engineer Jackson Palmer created a meme coin inspired by the viral meme of Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog, and called it Dogecoin.
CREDIT: Unsplash
Musk becomes Dogefather
For some reason, Dogecoin took off online and became popular among crypto enthusiasts. But the biggest boost Dogecoin received was from Musk, who started tweeting about it.
In 2021, Musk-owned SpaceX even announced a rideshare mission to the Moon completely funded by Dogecoin. Meanwhile, Musk started referring to himself as "Dogefather," giving it more legitimacy.
Also read: Kabosu, The Shiba Inu Dog Who Inspired Cryptocurrency Dogecoin, Dies
CREDIT: Unsplash
Musk replaced Twitter logo with Doge meme
Another key moment in the history of Dogecoin was in 2023, when, following his acquisition of Twitter, Musk, with no apparent explanation, replaced its bird logo with the dog meme.
In the same year, Musk also offered to pay a million in Dogecoin to anyone who proved that his father owned an emerald mine.
CREDIT: Unsplash
Dogecoin's price is going up
Musk's increasing proximity to Trump and the US election result has also helped in the increase in popularity of Dogecoin, which saw its price shoot up by 10 per cent after the Tesla CEO was announced as in charge of DOGE.
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Bobins Abraham is the Assistant News Editor at Indiatimes. He has more than twelve years of experience in TV and digital journalism. An avid student of history and geopolitics, he is a conservationist and environmentalist at heart. He writes on environment, sustainability, human-animal conflict and more.
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