Dogecoin has risen 400 percent in the last week because why not | Ars Technica Skip to main content Biz & IT Tech Science Policy Cars Gaming & Culture Store Forums Subscribe Close Navigate Store Subscribe Videos Features Reviews RSS Feeds Mobile Site About Ars Staff Directory Contact Us Advertise with Ars Reprints Filter by topic Biz & IT Tech Science Policy Cars Gaming & Culture Store Forums Settings Front page layout Grid List Site theme Black on white White on black Sign in Comment activity Sign up or login to join the discussions! Stay logged in | Having trouble? Sign up to comment and more Sign up Here we go again — Dogecoin has risen 400 percent in the last week because why not Dogecoin rallied after Elon Musk tweeted a photo of "Doge Barking at the Moon." Timothy B. Lee - Apr 16, 2021 6:56 pm UTC Enlarge peng song / Getty reader comments 162 with 112 posters participating, including story author Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Dogecoin, a blockchain-based digital currency named for a meme about an excitable canine, has seen its price rise by a factor of five over the last week. The price spike has made it one of the world's 10 most valuable cryptocurrencies, with a market capitalization of $45 billion. Understanding the value of cryptocurrencies is never easy, and it's especially hard for Dogecoin, which was created as a joke. Dogecoin isn't known for any particular technology innovations and doesn't seem to have many practical applications. What Dogecoin does have going for it, however, is memorable branding and an enthusiastic community of fans. And in 2021, that counts for a lot. In recent months, we've seen shares of GameStop soar to levels that are hard to justify based on the performance of GameStop's actual business. People bought GameStop because it was fun and they thought the price might go up. So too for Dogecoin. Tesla CEO Elon Musk may have also played an important role in Dogecoin's ascendancy. Musk has periodically tweeted about the cryptocurrency, and those tweets are frequently followed by rallies in Dogecoin's price. Late on Wednesday night, Musk tweeted out this image: Advertisement Doge Barking at the Moon pic.twitter.com/QFB81D7zOL — Elon Musk (@elonmusk) April 15, 2021 Dogecoin's price tripled over the next 36 hours. My editor suggested that I write about whether Dogecoin's rise is a sign of an overheated crypto market, but for a coin like Dogecoin, I'm not sure that's even a meaningful concept. Dogecoin isn't a company that has revenues or profits. And unlike bitcoin and ether, no one seriously thinks it's going to be the foundation of a new financial system. People are trading Dogecoin because it's fun to trade and because they think they might make money from it. The rising price is a sign that a lot of people have decided it would be fun to speculate in Dogecoin. Of course, the fact that lots of people have money to spend on joke investments might itself be a result of larger macroeconomic forces. The combination of stimulus spending, low interest rates, and pandemic-related saving means that a lot of people have more money than usual sitting in their bank accounts. And restrictions on travel and nightlife mean that many of those same people have a lot of time on their hands. reader comments 162 with 112 posters participating, including story author Share this story Share on Facebook Share on Twitter Share on Reddit Timothy B. Lee Timothy is a senior reporter covering tech policy, blockchain technologies and the future of transportation. He lives in Washington DC. Email timothy.lee@arstechnica.com // Twitter @binarybits Advertisement You must login or create an account to comment. Channel Ars Technica ← Previous story Next story → Related Stories Sponsored Stories Powered by Today on Ars Store Subscribe About Us RSS Feeds View Mobile Site Contact Us Staff Advertise with us Reprints Newsletter Signup Join the Ars Orbital Transmission mailing list to get weekly updates delivered to your inbox. Sign me up → CNMN Collection WIRED Media Group © 2021 Condé Nast. All rights reserved. Use of and/or registration on any portion of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement (updated 1/1/20) and Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement (updated 1/1/20) and Ars Technica Addendum (effective 8/21/2018). Ars may earn compensation on sales from links on this site. Read our affiliate link policy. Your California Privacy Rights | Do Not Sell My Personal Information The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Condé Nast. Ad Choices