Is the Dogecoin joke really on us experts trying to figure it out?
That’s essentially Bloomberg’s Joe Weisenthal’s attitude today. The Shiba Inu phenomenon has nothing to do with decentralization or value storage or any other high-minded crypto concept like Bitcoin, he writes. It’s not serious to explain.
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“Nobody can speak with a straight face when it comes to Dogecoin,” he writes. “… Really, all topics of conversation go out the window with DOGE.”
“Bitcoiners who have made an extraordinary amount of money in a short period of time love to talk about how they take on that [Federal Reserve] or take over the banks or enable some kind of peaceful revolution … Basically, Dogecoin is like Bitcoin, which has been deprived of virtue marks. “
The ultimate meme coin went from less than $ 0.02 in late January to more than $ 0.40 last night. The market capitalization is now over $ 50 billion, according to CoinDesk. And the momentum shows no signs of slowing down. Today is #DogeDay on Twitter and the coin is set to attract more internet fans.
Brands notice it. Last week, meat stick maker Slim Jim unveiled its Dogecoin strategy and pushed ahead with another ATH. And today the Mars confectionery company advertises its Snickers and Milky Way brands with “Dogecoinrise” labels.
There have been many attempts to explain DOGE, also on these pages. CoinDesk’s Emily Parker said it was a victory of “collective belief” and a yearning for a purer form of crypto (i.e., Bitcoin before it went mainstream).
Adam Levine, our podcast editor, said last week that in light of the Slim Jim news, DOGE has become “the joke currency to beat”.
“Just as Bitcoin is the consensus pick for people looking for ‘predictable amount of money’ in their currency, Dogecoin looks like the consensus pick for people who want ‘meme-y wackiness’ in their currency,” he wrote.
He added, “Everyone wants to get into the joke, which drives the price up and makes the joke bigger. It is a self-reinforcing cycle. A bit like Bitcoin, but for the Luls. “
Weisenthal has none of this arrogance because DOGE’s point is essentially anti-intellectual.
This can be difficult for people who believe in the potential for improvement in crypto. But Weisenthal is certainly right that you can spend too much time understanding the mind of the internet. Dogecoin is a joke and it’s funnier because the price goes up and more people are laughing about it. That’s it.
Whatever the long-term business and social impact of meme culture (including the scary notion that memes might be as important now as product development, for example), let’s leave intellectualization for another time. On Dogeday, all you need to do is sit back and enjoy the fun of this runaway train passing through another station.
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