Dogecoin (DOGE) is an open-source, peer-to-peer digital asset inspired by the popular "doge" internet meme featuring a Shiba Inu dog. Created by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer, Dogecoin was introduced in December 2013 as an alternative to Bitcoin, with the intention to reach a broader audience. Unlike Bitcoin, which was designed to be scarce, Dogecoin is intentionally abundant — with 10,000 new coins mined every minute and no maximum supply. The creators envisioned Dogecoin as a friendly digital asset, and this ethos is encapsulated in its unofficial tagline: "Do Only Good Everyday". Dogecoin operates on blockchain technology, a decentralized system that records transactions on a public ledger maintained by a network of computers or nodes. For most of its existence, Dogecoin (pronounced "dohj coin") was considered to be an amusing "memecoin" beloved by its community — but with relatively little value. That changed in 2021, when DOGE became one of the larger cryptocurrencies by market cap — with a total value that topped $80 billion in 2021, even though each individual coin is worth pennies.

Dogecoin operates on a technology called blockchain, similar to other digital assets. This technology is a decentralized system that records information on a public ledger maintained by a network of computers known as nodes. The altcoin also has a block time of 1 minute, and the total supply is uncapped, which means that there is no limit to the number of Dogecoin that can be created.

Dogecoin was created in December 2013 by Billy Markus, a programmer from Portland, Oregon, and Jackson Palmer, a marketer from Sydney, Australia. The creators intended Dogecoin to be a friendly, light-hearted digital asset that would appeal to more than just the core Bitcoin audience. The Dogecoin logo, featuring a Shiba Inu dog, was inspired by the popular "doge" internet meme. In 2014, a non-profit foundation was formed to provide support and governance for the Dogecoin project. After several years of inactivity, the foundation was relaunched in 2021 with a renewed focus on supporting the Dogecoin ecosystem and promoting the future of the Dogecoin blockchain.

Like many prominent cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin and Ethereum, Dogecoin is also secured by mining. Thousands of computers around the world compete to mine Dogecoin in order to share the millions of new coins added to the supply per day while also validating and processing network transactions. Early in Dogecoin's history, any computer could be useful for mining DOGE. As its popularity has surged, however, mining competition has increased, making it difficult for small-scale miners with regular hardware.

In 2021, Dogecoin experienced a significant price run-up as personalities like Mark Cuban, Snoop Dogg, and Elon Musk expressed their interest in Dogecoin. Musk even went so far as to joke, "​​The most entertaining outcome and the most ironic outcome would be that dogecoin becomes the currency of Earth in the future."

You can buy, sell, hold, send, and receive DOGE using Coinbase and several other financial technology companies.