Note: This is not financial advice. This is for educational purposes only. Please note that cryptocurrency is a highly volatile asset class; only invest what you can afford to lose.
Dogecoin hasn’t landed on the moon yet, but it’s headed to Coinbase, the largest US-based cryptocurrency exchange. In a call with investors and analysts to discuss Coinbase’s Q1 performance, CEO Brian Armstrong announced that Dogecoin will become a new addition to the exchange platform’s suite of cryptocurrencies (via MarketWatch).
Dogecoin is listed on countless popular platforms, including Binance, Kucoin, Crypto.com and BitMart, but Coinbase is the odd one out. Dogecoin supporters beseeched Coinbase for months to add the Elon Musk-led cryptocurrency to its marketplace, and now, it’s finally happening. The meme coin is expected to hit Coinbase in six to eight weeks. Dogecoin’s Coinbase addition comes at the heels of Binance’s listing of Shiba Inu coin, another meme token dubbed “the Dogecoin killer.”
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Dogecoin to get listed on Coinbase by July
Dogecoin’s Coinbase listing is advantageous for a number of reasons. Firstly, Dogecoin’s price could potentially skyrocket after DOGE (its ticker symbol) is added to Coinbase’s arsenal of digital assets. Secondly, Coinbase is often praised for its beginner-friendly, easy-to-use interface, so Dogecoin’s addition to the platform may entice newcomers. Thirdly, several states — including New York — hindered a slew of Dogecoin-supported cryptocurrency exchanges from servicing its residents, so Coinbase may finally give marginalized states access to a difficult-to-acquire digital asset.
New Yorkers, for example, are limited to purchasing Dogecoin from questionable apps such as Robinhood, which doesn’t give users access to their cryptocurrencies’ keys. In other words, if you wanted to transfer your Dogecoin out of Robinhood into a crypto savings account to accrue interest, you would not have that option. As many cryptocurrency pundits say, “not your keys, not your crypto.”
Lastly, the news of Dogecoin joining the ranks may benefit Coinbase’s stock performance. Coinbase, under the ticker symbol COIN, went public on the Nasdaq stock change in mid-April. Coinbase is the first pure-play crypto marketplace to list on a US exchange.
What is Dogecoin?
Software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer launched Dogecoin in 2013 as a joke. It was based on the viral “doge” meme, which featured a Shiba Inu dog. Markus and Palmer founded Dogecoin to throw a dose of silliness into the stodgy, highbrow Bitcoin world.
“The crypto community can be pretty elitist and not very inclusive, and we wanted to make a community that was more fun, lighthearted and inclusive,” Markus told CNBC Make It. “It worked, and is why the dogecoin community consistently maintains a presence.”
Dogecoin is no laughing matter now, and unfortunately for Markus, he sold all of his Dogecoin in 2015 after getting laid off. Who knew that six years later Dogecoin would surge by 7,900% and catch the attention of Tesla and SpaceX’s CEO? On May 8, the day Musk appeared on Saturday Night Live, Dogecoin reached an all-time high of $0.72. However, after Musk painted Dogecoin as a “hustle,” Dogecoin dropped steadily until it hit a devastating low of $0.38 on May 12.
Still, it was Musk’s support that brought Dogecoin to the forefront of mainstream media. In fact, before he announced that Tesla will no longer accept Bitcoin due to its environmental impact, he polled his Twitter followers on whether Dogecoin should be Tesla’s new accepted form of payment; 78% said yes. As a result, cryptocurrency pundits are speculating that Dogecoin could replace Bitcoin as Tesla’s new accepted currency.
As an investment, many pundits question whether Dogecoin is worth the plunge because, unlike Bitcoin, it doesn’t have a supply cap. There’s no limit to the number of Dogecoins that can be created, which hinders the meme token from skyrocketing “to the moon.” Dogecoin holders pestered the token’s founders to put a supply cap on DOGE, but according to Fortune, “Markus just wishes people would realize that he’s no longer part of the [Dogecoin] project and can’t limit the coin’s supply to help make them rich.”
Markus and Palmer made Dogecoin in just two hours, but its impact on internet culture will last a lifetime.
