In a surprising turn, Bloomberg has dubbed Dogecoin, once a joke in the crypto world, the "king of memecoins." Launched over 11 years ago as a playful altcoin, DOGE is now garnering serious attention, especially from merchants accepting it for payments. The time has come to take Dogecoin seriously, analysts say.
Dogecoin's transaction fees are on average 80 times cheaper than Bitcoin's. In addition, transactions are processed in less than a minute. Dogecoin is also a viable option for money transfers, with fees of around 7%.
Dogecoin owes much of its fame to celebrity endorsements from the likes of Snoop Dogg and Lil Yachty. Another vocal supporter of the memecoin is Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla and SpaceX. He has long been an advocate for Dogecoin, going so far as to suggest using DOGE for Twitter Blue subscriptions in April 2022.
In August 2024, Elon Musk and Tesla’s management won the dismissal of a massive $258 billion class action lawsuit accusing them of defrauding investors by hyping Dogecoin. The plaintiff had sought to stop Musk and his team from promoting the token, claiming it was akin to gambling.
Billionaire entrepreneur Mark Cuban is also among the high-profile supporters of the memecoin. In 2021, his NBA team, the Dallas Mavericks, began accepting Dogecoin for merchandise and ticket purchases. However, the company has only received 25,000 DOGE so far. Cuban called it an "inexpensive way to be part of a vibrant online community."
Dogecoin’s viral appeal has also been noted by industry players. A co-founder of Williamsburg Pizza in New York, which accepts DOGE, highlighted the token's "virality," believing in its potential as an effective marketing tool.
"Over time, Dogecoin has become less of a meme coin and more of a blank slate, without much technological risk," Frederick Collins, CEO and founder of Velo Data, said. "Compared to other cryptocurrencies, it offers a pretty solid combination of recognition, simplicity, and low cost," he added.
