In 2013, Dogecoin was born after a hard fork split from the Litecoin blockchain. It has gone on to position itself as an open source crypto for users around the world.

While it was initially thought of as parody coin birthed from a practical joke, the token has gone on to prove everyone wrong, quickly rising to the top 10 tokens last year with a valuation in excess of $1 billion.

The token was able to survive and stay relevant, thanks to its hard core community. These folks see the token as a real asset with great prospects and use case.

For them, it’s not really about the returns on investment, as it’s about the technology. However, this doesn’t mean you can’t make money trading the token.

In fact, it’s performed better than many crypto assets considering the state of the crypto market. While many other assets lost over 90 percent of their value –including bitcoin- Dogecoin has managed to prevent a slide below 50 percent.

So, while the value may not be anything compared to its all-time high in 2018, the token is still a great buy.

How Did it Get So Popular?

Honestly, this was meant to be a fun project by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus. The plan was to create a popular meme that kind of doubled as a crypto.

It essentially rode the growing crypto popularity wave, and then went on to take a life of its own. The founders seeing its potential quickly built a solid project around it, with a good use case.

Its popularity was further entrenched thanks to the fun option of allowing users tip each other some Dogecoin for something they did or as reward for information or content. Dogecoin is a good example of an unintentional crypto success that’s still holding its own.

While it did at one point surpass bitcoin’s trading volume, the token has gone on to carve a niche for itself, by participating in charity events and sponsoring NASCAR vehicles.

Of course, the face of Shiba Inu representing the Dogecoin also makes it an appealing token that people everywhere are just fond of. There’s something about that dog’s face that’s quite warm and welcoming. In fact, the Dogecoin has indirectly become a token for all dog lovers in the world.

Dogs are known for their loyalty and affection for their owners. So, when people see thee token, it triggers those warm feelings. That, combined with the fact that it’s not a “serious coin” like bitcoin and the rest, makes it easy to accept, even in fun. This is why regardless of its value, people will still want it.

Dogecoin’s Partnerships With Brands

In spite of its unserious nature, the token has gone on to partner with some big name brands in the world. The Dogecoin Foundation is focused on the spreading of goodwill through charitable donations and events. One of these is known as Doge4Water, a clean water fundraising event that rasied $40k in 2014. This money was used to establish clean water initiatives in the east African country of Kenya.

Also, the foundation helped raise $20k for the Jamaican bobsled team, a donation which helped them participate in the Sochi Winter games of 2014. Another major donation was the community’s raising of $55k Dogecoin to back Josh Wise, a NASCAR driver.

The donation gave the community the option of wrapping the car with the Dogecoin insignia. This single act resulted in an uptick in global interest about the coin.

Why is Dogecoin Well Liked?

Apart from its perception as a “joke” or novelty coin, Dogecoin transactions are typically faster than other crypto tokens. In fact, transactions on the platform are nine times as fast as that on bitcoin network.

The block times are usually very fast, with the platform being very secure. In fact, double spending on the platform is virtually impossible thanks to the fast block times.

Hackers who intend to do that only have a 60 second window, and that’s not enough time to successfully carry out a hack attack.

It’s also a great option for micro-transactions and has very minimal charges. These attributes makes it great for daily and frequent usage. Mining the token too is very easy and fast. And it doesn’t cost a fortune like other tokens that require the purchase of ASIC miners.

Mining the token can be done on the average computer, thanks to its Scrypt based algorithm –Litecoin uses the same algorithm.

This is why transactions on the Litecoin platform are just as fast, and its mining easy. The only downside with Dogecoin is its seemingly unlimited supply. But that’s intentional as it helps keep down the costs of micro-transactions and all other associated fees.

It also helps with improving usability for anyone interested in using the platform. This includes traders, merchants, and customers. Most people who trade the coins for the purpose of profits, tend to do so by storing their funds in Dogecoin forms.

It’s often great for arbitrage opportunities too. Others convert their other tokens to Dogecoin when they want to withdraw their funds as fiat currency. This is because of the low transaction fees compared to that of other crypto assets.

How’s it Different

Dogecoin’s unique edge is its viral tendency. People are attracted to the project because of its quirky attributes. It’s a warm, friendly project, which evokes a lot of positive feelings.

This is why many can get behind it comfortably. The founders themselves weren’t interested in a “serious” token, which is why it has that fun, free perception.

In fact, just because it didn’t have the same serious theme as other crypto projects, made it the choice token for some folks.

While it doesn’t have the more solid substance like bitcoin and others, the reality is that it kicks ass when it comes to micro-transactions, as well as functions as a great rewards option.

Conclusion

While it lacks the brooding seriousness or depth of other crypto projects, and is perceived as a fun token, its results are by no means small. Its consistent plowing ahead and impressive features makes it a possibly decent investment for anyone looking.

Its transaction speeds are nothing to be looked down on, and its fees are really low. This is why it has become one of the leading tokens with huge transaction volumes on its network.

Also, while its seemingly unlimited supply might be off-putting to serious investors looking for a huge ROI, this project is great for those looking for conservative gains from a crypto project that will be around for a long time.

Dogecoin: How to Heckin’ Mine

The term “doge” was internet created and has become a downright phenomenon. The Dogecoin was created as a joke in 2013 to go along with this and has since become the go-to fun and friendly cryptocurrency.

It is still popular today in part because of this attitude, and, if we are being honest, the Shiba Inu coin mascot. In line with the fun and friendly feeling it invokes, it is often used to tip people online or as a charitable donation.

But you can also mine it on your own computer.

Dogecoin operates on a proof-of-work basis, using the same algorithm as Litecoin. Because they both use Scrypt, it is actually possible to merge their mining operations and get two coins with your computing power- Litecoin and Dogecoin.

Step-by-Step Mining of Dogecoin

Step 1: Pick Your Poison

There are three ways of mining Dogecoin; solo which is mining by yourself, pool which is mining in a group, and cloud which involves the cloud.

Solo miners are often for more experienced miners. It uses your own computing power and electricity to mine coin. You get a higher reward out of it but it takes a lot of power and a lot more time. Basically, it’s a much larger personal commitment.

Pool mining is a great place for newbies to start. This involves joining your resources to other miners in a pool. You share in the energy and computing power and then share in the rewards generated. You get rewarded far more often than with solo mining but the rewards are smaller.

Cloud mining consists of renting computer power from a data center to mine with. Their computing power essentially mines the coin for you and then sends along what has been mined to your wallet. You can use a service for this, like Nice Hash or Genesis Mining. It costs money but it does save you from having to use up your own computing power.

Step 2: Dogecoin Wallet

Dogecoin needs a digital wallet to be stored in like the one on the Dogecoin website. With cloud mining, you can use any Dogecoin wallet but pool and solo require the original Dogecoin Core Wallet.

Step 3: The Hardware

The best choice for hardware is to use yours at home GPU, or video card. You can use your CPU but it isn’t recommended because it can overheat your computer.

Popular CPU manufacturing includes Nvidia and AMD. Nvidia is more powerful but also more expensive. Check your computer, it may already have a good GPU.

There is a third option- the Scrypt ASIC miner. They are very powerful computer build for the purpose of mining Script based cryptocurrencies. They are noisy and use a significant amount of electricity, but they are also powerful and cost half as much as the top-of-the-line Nvidia GPU. The current most popular is the Bitmain Antminer L3+.

Step 4: The Software

Luckily, software for the mining is free to download and use on whichever hardware you use. Which software you use is dependent on the type of hardware you are downloading it to. A CPU would need the basic CPU Miner but it has the most options overall. The Nvidia GPU video card is best paired with CudaMiner. CGMiner is great on most hardware but the most user-friendly (something beginners should consider) is actually EasyMiner. Both of them can be used on ASIC rigs as well.

Mine With Your Doge

Once you’ve picked your method of mining, your hardware, and you have downloaded and installed the mining software, you are ready to go! Collect your Dogecoin and remember- use it in the fun and friendly way it was intended for.