Hi Shoppers,
In a very 2021 turn of events, my son, Grant, recently asked me if he could buy Dogecoin.
I saw that it was trading for $.06, so my first reaction was “Sure!”
It seemed like it would be a great way to get him interested in trading and the markets. A real #proudmom moment.
Then I dug a little deeper and found that Dogecoin was created as a joke currency using the Doge dog meme:
Woof.
Side note: I was also informed by Grant that anyone over a certain age (25?) is not allowed to even say the word meme because “it’s cringe.” (Eye roll here).
Anyway, despite its origin, Dogecoin is nothing to laugh at these days, and you’ll see why in a moment.
On its website, Dogecoin calls itself “the fun and friendly internet currency” and “an amazing vibrant community made up of friendly folks just like you”.
It has a Robinhood-like vibe, simple and easy to use, and seems to be geared to attract the younger crowd. (As you would expect a meme-based currency to be, I suppose.)
(For a truly extensive rundown of the Doge meme, check out this KnowYourMeme.com entry. It’s a true glimpse into the Internet’s psyche.)
Dogecoin launched Dec. 6, 2013 and is trading at $.07 as of this writing — up 1,500% for 2021!
So it’s definitely riding the crypto craze.
It also, and I can’t believe I’m writing this, has a market cap of nearly $9.5 billion (almost qualifying to be a large cap) and $7.2 billion worth have traded in the last 24 hours.
And, fun fact, there are 128.3 billion Dogecoins in circulation.
Now that we’re down the crypto rabbit hole …
Crypto Q&A
I’ve put together a quick roundup of some of the questions I’ve received related to the crypto craze. Here we go …
Q. How many crypto currencies are there?
A. According to E-Crypto News, as of Jan. 20, there were 7,812 crypto currencies with over $324 billion in market capitalization.
Q. Does the government have the power to destroy crypto currencies?
A. Economist Saifedean Ammous, author of The Bitcoin Standard: The Decentralized Alternative to Central Banking, says the only way a government can kill Bitcoin is to compete with it, and if the government tried to ban Bitcoin, it would only become more popular. He’s right … think guns and booze.
Q. How about Janet Yellen’s stance on crypto?
A. Our new Treasury Secretary says,“I think we really need to examine ways in which we can curtail their use and make sure that money laundering doesn’t occur through those channels.” Sounds like trouble is brewing!
Q. What about the rumors of Apple buying crypto currencies?
A. According to RBC Capital Markets, Apple already has the infrastructure with its Apple Wallet and Apple Pay to use crypto currency. Can’t wait to pay for my latte with Sushiswap!
Q: Why would Tesla buy $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoin?
A: According to Tesla’s SEC filing, it’s to “to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash that is not required to maintain adequate operating liquidity.”
They are accepting Bitcoin for payment for their cars, too.
Elon Musk has a history in the payment industry. Twenty years ago, he invested $22 million in X.com, which became PayPal. That worked out OK.
Now, it’s possible that Musk is using his influence to run up the Bitcoin price and then scalp it. Not sure he would do that, but I’d bet you Dogecoin that Jeff Bezos probably wouldn’t have any qualms about it.
Q. How many Bitcoins are there and how many total will there be?
A. There are currently 18,624,650 in existence, with 2,375,350 left to be mined, for a maximum total of 21 million Bitcoins that can ever exist. The last Bitcoin is predicted to be mined in the year 2140.
There are currently a little over 100 million ether (Etherium) in circulation and it doesn’t have a limit to the number that can come into existence.
As far as an explanation on the mining of the coins, not so simple. I will leave that research up to you!
I can give you this picture of the context of the first Bitcoin mined in 2009, though. Enjoy!
Q. How can I get in on the action?
A. Just pull the trigger. I think I’m going to allow Grant to buy $25 worth of Dogecoin. Or maybe $50. $100? $200!? Elon has been tweeting about Dogecoin for the last five days. Snoop Dog, too!
So it must be cool … just like memes.
OK, that’s enough for now. Next time I’ll be writing about the stocks surrounding the crypto currency craze.
Thanks for Reading … See You Next Tuesday!
Licia Leslie