This is Why Dogecoin Keeps Evolving
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This is Why Dogecoin Keeps Evolving
Hey everyone,
In the land of memes, Doge is king.
While the average meme survives just four months, Doge has thrived for more than a decade, largely because it’s fun, humorous, and easy to combine with other memes.
Doge memes are Dogecoin’s secret weapon, allowing it to remain culturally relevant and turn any situation to its advantage.
This past week witnessed an avalanche of news for Dogecoin, with an army of meme-makers documenting the developments in real time.
Let’s dive in to the top stories from the week to see how Dogecoin uses memes to keep evolving.
The D Word
Elon Musk joined Jack Dorsey and Ark Investments CEO Cathie Wood on Wednesday for a discussion on "Bitcoin as a Tool for Economic Empowerment."
The session was part of Dorsey's Bitcoin educational initiative The B Word.
While the talk was focused mainly on Bitcoin, hoards of #DogeArmy soldiers tuned in for hints about the future of their favorite Shiba-Inu-themed crypto.
In the hours before the talk, the #DogeArmy ramped up anticipation by making #TheDWord trend on Twitter.
Over the past few months, Elon has taken heat from Bitcoin community for pausing Tesla's Bitcoin payments until mining becomes more sustainable—and for suggesting that Dogecoin could overtake Bitcoin as the top cryptocurrency.
His appearance at Dorsey's Bitcoin-focused event could be a turning point in a more harmonious Bitcoin-Dogecoin relationship.
During the talk, Elon shared good news on Tesla's Bitcoin plans and offered his vision for Dogecoin's role in the larger financial ecosystem.
Here are some highlights from the discussion:
Both Tesla and SpaceX own Bitcoin.
Elon personally holds three cryptocurrencies: "Bitcoin by far, and then some Ethereum and some Doge."
Diamond Hands Musk: "I might pump but I don't dump. I definitely do not believe in getting the price high and selling or anything like that."
Vision for scaling Dogecoin's blockchain: "There's merit to considering something that has higher max transaction rate and lower transaction cost [than Bitcoin] and seeing how far you could take a single layer network where the exchanges act as a de facto second layer. I think you could probably take that further than people realize."
Elon presented engineers with an idea for a space heater that could mine Dogecoin and other cryptos.
On being drawn to Dogecoin: "Doge community is somewhat irreverent and has great memes and loves Dogs, and I love Dogs and memes. It doesn't take itself too seriously."
Tesla "most likely" will resume accepting Bitcoin, but Elon needs to do more due diligence to confirm Bitcoin's trend toward sustainable energy usage.
Elon asked Dorsey about having Twitter advertisers pay in Bitcoin and "maybe some other cryptos." Dorsey responded positively to the idea but wouldn't commit to it on the spot.
Elon supports crypto because it increases "the power of the individual relative to government" and makes a prosperous future more likely.
Afterwards, debate emerged about whether Elon's shirt featured a Bitcoin or Dogecoin as the final step in human evolution.
He seemed to settle the question the following day on Twitter by liking this meme:
Coinbase/Robinhood Update
Coinbase and Robinhood are two heavyweight crypto institutions.
Their adoption of Dogecoin has been an important measuring stick on its epic journey from a corner of the Internet to the mainstream.
This week saw important news from both companies on the Doge front.
Coinbase Commerce announced it now supports Dogecoin on its payments platform.
Coinbase Commerce allows businesses to accept cryptocurrencies for payments with no transaction fees.
When businesses accept crypto through Coinbase Commerce, they have the option to keep the crypto, sell it for dollars, or exchange it for a different cryptocurrency.
Coinbase said that over 8,000 merchants already use its commerce platform, including Shopify. All of Shopify's nearly two million merchants can now easily accept Dogecoin payments.
While Coinbase exchange offers almost a hundred cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin is one of only seven accepted for payments by Coinbase Commerce.
Coinbase's decision is a strong endorsement for Doge as a leading transactions crypto.
The number of places that accept Dogecoin keeps growing, but the #DogeArmy is still waiting for Robinhood to add wallets so they can spend Dogecoin currently locked up on the online brokerage.
Robinhood's Initial Public Offering could be an important step on the way to wallets.
The IPO has been scheduled to take place this coming Thursday, July 29th.
It's been more than a hundred days since Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced plans to release crypto wallets "as fast as possible."
Robinhood's choice to become a publicly traded company makes them accountable to shareholders, many of whom have been agitating for crypto wallets.
Robinhood is reserving a portion of IPO shares for users of its app. The company estimates they have around 20 million retail trading accounts.
Earlier in July, it disclosed that 6% of 2021 Q1 revenue came from Dogecoin trading alone, likely making Dogecoin Robinhood's single most profitable trading asset.
While Dogecoin investors continue to push Robinhood to implement crypto wallets, it increasingly looks like Robinhood will wait until after its IPO to release the Doge.
With the IPO just around the corner, the #DogeArmy is watching with great anticipation.
#DogeShades and Meme Revivalism
One of the most important memes in the crypto scene this year has been Bitcoin Laser Eyes, which convey belief in Bitcoin's power to transform the world's monetary system.
Bitcoin Laser Eyes took Twitter by storm in February. The original hashtag was #LaserEyesTo100k.
As Bitcoin drifted away from that price target in recent months, the meme lost some of its verve.
Dogecoin, another meme-powered asset, has seen its price caught in a downtrend since May's Doge-heavy SNL episode.
Last Saturday, with both Bitcoin and Dogecoin continuing downward, Elon changed his Twitter profile picture to include a pair of Doge-reflecting sunglasses.
Within hours, the hashtag #DogeShades trended on Twitter as the #DogeArmy added similar sunglasses to profile pictures and other images.
As #DogeShades trended, the market turned green, with Doge leading the way.
In addition to the sunglasses, Elon changed his bio to "meme necromancy while u wait."
Necromancy is the practice of raising the dead.
Was Elon hinting at bringing Bitcoin and Dogecoin back to life by reviving Laser Eyes with a Doge-ish twist?
Reviving a dying meme is more complicated than simply digging up an old image and reposting it. The meme has to be made relevant for the present context.
Where Bitcoin's Laser Eyes indicate a burning conviction in Bitcoin's transformative power, they also can signal an overabundance of intensity.
This intensity can be exhausting to maintain, especially during long market lulls like the past few months.
#DogeShades is a natural evolution of the Laser Eyes meme, conveying cool self-possession and laid-back fun necessary to thrive during a market downturn.
Without a doubt, it's easier to diamond hand through long stretches of uncertainty with #DogeShades than Laser Eyes.
#DogeShades also draws power from another long-lived meme: Deal With It sunglasses.
The pixellated specs, which first appeared on the Internet around same time as the Doge in 2010, suggest the wearer's boss-like control over a situation and unconcerned disregard for haters.
Despite its lovability, Dogecoin has no shortage of detractors, including politicians, Wall Street Institutions, and crypto power brokers.
#DogeShades conveys a similar attitude toward doubters as Deal With It sunglasses by signaling that Dogecoin is firmly in control of its bright future.
To maintain their power, memes must constantly adapt.
A major reason Dogecoin has survived as long as it has is because Doge is fun and easy to combine with other memes.
#DogeShades is a novel combination of three well-established memes: Laser Eyes, Deal With It shades, and Doge.
People are attracted to #DogeShades because they imbue the wearer with the qualities needed to thrive in the current market.
Wherever Dogecoin is headed next, #DogeShades guarantee that the #DogeArmy will travel in style.
Dogevolution
Dogecoin is evolving at a blistering pace, and memes are the engine for this evolution.
The past week saw one positive development after another, including repeated mention at The B Word, Coinbase Commerce adoption, and #DogeShades.
As Dogecoin continues moving toward its destiny of becoming the cryptocurrency of the Internet, Earth, and outer space, memes will remain essential for its success.
As long as the Doge community creates new viral memes, Dogecoin will keep its crown as the most fun crypto. In a market driven by emotion, that counts for everything.
Dogey Treats: News Bites
Ethereum creator Vitalik Buterin plans to join Dogecoin developer Ross Nicoll on July 28th to talk about the upcoming Dog-Ethereum bridge.
Elon responded to a question of whether Dogecoin was still a threat the global financial system by asking "Is the Pope Catholic?"
July 22nd was #LowEffortMemeDay on Dogecoin Twitter, with community members encouraged to make Doge memes without trying too hard.
Amazon is hiring a crypto expert for its payments team
Axe released their limited edition Dogecan 'Crypto Scent with a Dank Musk' to select community members. Dogecan had a big positive effect on Axe's social media engagement. Burger King requested a can.
Musician and social media personality Chantel Jeffries said she owned Dogecoin.
Dogepalooza will take place in Sugarland, Texas on October 9, 2021.
Mark Cuban predicted that Doge would hit $1 and begin to act like a stablecoin. He also liked photo of him and news anchor Susan Li wearing #DogeShades.
Wheat Thins deliberated joining the #DogeArmy and received approval from corporate leadership.
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Memes of the week
Disclaimer: This is not financial advice and I am not a financial advisor. The article above references an opinion for entertainment purposes only and it is not investment advice. Do your own research and consult with a licensed financial adviser before making any investment decision. Do not treat any opinion expressed in this newsletter as a specific inducement to make a particular investment. Content, news, research, tools, and securities symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or cryptocurrency or to engage in any particular investment strategy. The information provided is not warranted as to completeness or accuracy and is subject to change without notice. The projections or other information regarding the likelihood of various investment outcomes are hypothetical in nature, are not guaranteed for accuracy or completeness, do not reflect actual investment results and are not guarantees of future results. All investments involve risk, losses may exceed the principal invested, and the past performance of a security, industry, sector, market, cryptocurrency, or financial product does not guarantee future results or returns. Dogecoin is a speculative and highly volatile asset susceptible to pump-and-dump schemes.
Disclosure: I currently own some Dogecoin, Bitcoin, and Ethereum. At the time of publication, Dogecoin is around $0.22 per coin.