What is Dogecoin (DOGE)?

Dogecoin is the original memecoin. Two software engineers launched it in 2013 as a joke about crypto speculation. It works much like Bitcoin, with one big difference: there is no limit on how many coins can exist.

Where it came from

Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer launched Dogecoin on 6 December 2013. It took its name and its mascot from a popular internet picture of a Shiba Inu dog.

The joke took on a life of its own. In May 2021 Dogecoin's market value briefly passed $85 billion.

How it works

Dogecoin is secured by mining, the same broad method as Bitcoin. Lesson 4 explains it.

• A new block is produced about every minute.
• The miner of each block receives 10,000 new Dogecoin, plus the fees.
• The puzzle uses a method called Scrypt, which is also used by another coin, Litecoin. Miners can mine both at the same time with the same work.

Supply

There is no maximum supply.

• In its first year, block rewards were large and fell in steps. About 100 billion coins existed by early 2015.
• Since then every block has created 10,000 coins. At one block a minute, that adds about 5 billion coins a year.

Because the yearly amount is fixed, it shrinks as a share of the total over time. It never stops, so holders are always being diluted a little. Compare Bitcoin's schedule in Lesson 5.

What people use it for

People tip and pay with Dogecoin, and many hold or trade it on its fame. Lesson 11 quotes staff at the US Securities and Exchange Commission, who said in February 2025 that memecoins "typically have limited or no use or functionality" and that their value is "driven primarily by market demand and speculation".

Risks to know

• Its value rests on attention. There is no cap, no income and no promise behind it.
• Unlimited supply. About 5 billion new coins arrive every year.
• Sharp swings. Its market value passed $85 billion in May 2021. In October 2026 it was about $13 billion.
• Imitators. Dogecoin inspired many copies. Lesson 11 explains rug pulls and pump-and-dump schemes.

Learn more

Lesson 11 covers altcoins and memecoins, and Lesson 17 explains why a low price per coin does not make a coin cheap.