NEW YORK CITY, N.Y. — Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency founded in 2013, rocketed after a Reddit forum decided to make what happened to GameStop happen to the digital coin, according to CNBC's Arjun Kharpal.
At 12:01 p.m. Singapore time on Jan. 28, the price of dogecoin was $0.070755 per coin, up over 800% from 24 hours before, according to Coingecko. By 12:03 p.m. Singapore time, dogecoin had added about $7.17 billion to its total value in 24 hours, according to data from Coinmarket cap.
On Jan. 28, a Reddit user posted saying that dogecoin is the "crypto gme," according to Kharpal. .GME is the stock ticker for GameStop.
Another user posted saying that independent traders should take the cryptocurrency to $1 per coin - this has never happened.
Dogecoin was created as a joke - it's based off of the popular "doge" meme that was big in the early part of the last decade, also according to Kharpal. The meme typically features a Shiba Inu dog with nonsensical words and phrases around its head. Like many modern memes, we don't know why it's funny, but it is.
Dogecoin is not as big as bitcoin, but it has users. Kharpal notes that "its resurgence in the last few days has been down to enthusiasm from a Reddit group called 'SatoshiStreetBets.'" This is another forum on the site.
Similar to the Reddit forum that propelled GameStop to over 10 times its considered market value, "SatoshiStreetBets" is focusing on making cryptocurrencies do well. Kharpal points out that Satoshi is the name of the unknown founder of bitcoin.
Late on Jan. 28, the price of dogecoin fell slightly, but members of "SatoshiStreetBets" are encouraging each other to "keep pushing."
Elon Musk, the founder of Tesla, tweeted out a picture on Thursday of a fake magazine entitled "Doge," which featured a sleek looking Greyhound on the cover. Reddit users took this to mean Musk was backing what they're doing, according to Kharpal.
“Mr Musk is with us.. to the moon," one of them posted.
Unlike "r/WallStreetBets," Kharpal continues, which "appears to be pushing the narrative of buying GameStop shares in order to create pain for hedge funds that are shorting or betting against the stock," "SatoshiStreetBets," members appear to be just trying to make money.
There's a lot of volatility in the market as of late, and a lot of uncertainty, but one thing's for sure: the internet will always find a way to make a joke out of everything.