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Dogecoin

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Dogecoin
File:Dogecoin logo.png File:Dogecoin alternate logo.png
Official logoAlternative logo
Unit
PluralDOGE, Dogecoins
SymbolD,Ɖ‎
NicknameDoge
Denominations
Subunit
 0.001mDOGE (millidoge)
 0.000001μDOGE (microdoge)
Demographics
Date of introductionDecember 6th, 2013
User(s)International
Valuation
InflationLimited release, production rate before this limit re-evaluated with the production of every block (at a rate of approximately 1 block per minute) based on the difficulty with which Dogecoins are produced, eventually leading up to a final total of 100 billion.

Dogecoin (code: DOGE, symbol: Ɖ and D), is a Litecoin-derived[1] cryptocurrency that uses the Shiba Inu dog character from the 'Doge' Internet meme as its mascot.[2][3] Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page).Cite error: The <ref> tag has too many names (see the help page). As of January 8, 2014, 23.38% of the 100 billion total dogecoins have been mined.[4]

Overview and history

Dogecoin was created by programmer and former IBM engineer Billy Markus of Portland, Oregon, who was originally trying to tinker with an existing cryptocurrency of Markus' called "Bells" based on Nintendo's Animal Crossing, in hopes of reaching a broader demographic than the investors who made up Bitcoin's economy and something that wouldn't be involved with the controversial history behind Bitcoin (namely its association with the Silk Road).[5] At the same time, his friend Jackson Palmer, a worker for a marketing department in Sydney, Australia for Adobe Systems, and the original individual who first conceived of the idea for Dogecoin, was encouraged by a student at Front Range Community College on Twitter to make the idea reality,[6] leading Palmer to reach out to Markus.[7] After getting several mentions on Twitter, Palmer bought the domain dogecoin.com, which was shown to Markus and quickly began the partnership between Markus and Palmer, launching the coin shortly after the development of Markus' Dogecoin wallet was done.[8] Within a couple of weeks of launching the currency, 6% of the total amount of 100 billion DOGE was already mined by December 17,[9] and on December 19, Dogecoin had jumped more than 300 percent in value, rising from $0.00026 to $0.00099[10] during a time when Bitcoin and many other cryptocurrencies were reeling from China's decision to forbid Chinese banks from investing Chinese Yuan into the Bitcoin economy.[1] On the 22nd of December, Dogecoin experienced its first major crash by dropping by 80% due to large mining pools seizing opportunity in exploiting the very little computing power required at the time to mine the coin.[11] On the day of Christmas in 2013, the first major theft attempt on Dogecoin happened when millions of coins were stolen during a hacking attempt on Dogewallet,[12] due to having the hacker gain access to the wallet's filesystem and modifying its send/receive page to send any and all coins to a static address.[13][14]

Markus based Dogecoin on the existing currency Litecoin,[1] which also uses scrypt technology in its proof-of-work algorithm, meaning that miners cannot take advantage of specialized Bitcoin-mining equipment to mine at higher speeds. The Dogecoin network will produce 100 billion dogecoins.[15][16] Despite Dogecoin's original purpose as a proof-of-concept and a play on the internet meme of the same name, there are communities dedicated to it and several minor exchanges that trade it for other established cryptocurrencies like Litecoin or Bitcoin. The currency's popularity and value are rapidly growing;[17] as of January 7, 2014, the baseline price was approximately 4,600 DOGE to 1 United States dollar. On December 24th The Reserve Bank of India cautioned users of Dogecoin and other virtual currencies on the risks associated with them.[18]

Use and exchanges

There are several online exchanges that handle DOGE/BTC and DOGE/LTC trading. The price is highly volatile due to the relatively short existence of the currency. As of Dec 19th 2013, the price for one DOGE was $0.00095,[10] although this hasn't been a deterrent for exchange since people are trading real-world items in exchange for DOGE on major online communities such as Reddit.[19][20]

Transactions

Dogecoin functions using public-key cryptography, in which a user generates a pair of cryptographic keys: one public and one private. Only the private key can decode information encrypted with the public key; therefore the keys' owner can distribute the public key openly without fear that anyone will be able to use it to gain access to the encrypted information. All Dogecoin addresses are public keys; they are a string of 34 numbers and letters starting with the letter D. An example address (public key) is the address DBxbb3wXMMc6y2vvZufHGjmB17dM2Lpab6, which belongs to Dogecoin.org[citation needed]. (The private key, however, must be kept secret and secure). The public key is the Dogecoin address to which other users can send dogecoins.

References

  1. ^ a b c David Gilbert (20 December 2013). "What is Dogecoin? The Meme that Became the Hot New Virtual Currency". International Business Times. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  2. ^ Andrew Couts (12 December 2013). "Wow. Dogecoin is the most Internet thing to happen, ever". Digital Trends. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  3. ^ Brittany Hillen (10 December 2013). "Dogecoin digital currency takes on Bitcoin with a bit of meme flair". Slashgear. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  4. ^ http://dogepay.com/
  5. ^ Patrick McGuire. "Such Weird: The Founders of Dogecoin See the Meme Currency's Tipping Point". Motherboard. Vice Media. Retrieved 23 December 2013.
  6. ^ Jason Mick (18 December 2013). "Dogecoins and Its IBM Developer Ride Meme to $130M+ Fortune". DailyTech. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  7. ^ Rob Wile (19 December 2013). "What is Dogecoin?". Business Insider. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  8. ^ Ashe Schow (19 December 2013). "Internet gold: Doge + Bitcoin = Dogecoin". Washington Examiner. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  9. ^ Dario Marchetti (19 December 2013). "Dogecoin, la valuta digitale nata da un meme" (in Italian). Wired Italia. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  10. ^ a b Andrew Couts (19 December 2013). "To the moon! DogeCoin fetches 300 percent jump in value in 24 hours". Digital Trends. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  11. ^ Rob Wile (22 December 2013). "Dogecoin Prices Crashed This Weekend". Business Insider. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  12. ^ Ashley Feinberg (26 December 2013). "Millions of Meme-Based Dogecoins Stolen on Christmas Day". Gizmodo. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  13. ^ Catherine Shu (25 December 2013). "Such Hack. Many Dogecoin. Very Disappear. So Gone. Wow". TechCrunch. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  14. ^ Salvador Rodriguez (26 December 2013). "Millions of Dogecoins, currency based on a meme, are reported stolen". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  15. ^ Danny Vega (9 December 2013). "Dogecoin: 5 Fast Facts You Need to Know". Heavy.com. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  16. ^ Miles Klee (10 December 2013). "With its own cryptocurrency, Doge has officially conquered 2013". The Daily Dot. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  17. ^ John Law (13 December 2013). "Patent Nonsense, Coinbase Futures, and Who's a Good Doggie? You Are!". CoinDesk. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  18. ^ "RBI cautions users of Virtual Currencies against Risks" (PDF). 24 December 2013. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  19. ^ Nathan Ingraham (16 December 2013). "Bitcoin is so 2013: Dogecoin is the new cryptocurrency on the block". The Verge. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
  20. ^ J. Duaine Hahn (16 December 2013). "Move Over Bitcoin: Dogecoin is Here". Complex Tech. Retrieved December 2013. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |accessdate= (help)
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