Traders of the day on the viral video app TikTok are encouraging people to speculate on a prank cryptocurrency called Dogecoin. Based on an old internet meme, an overly candid Shiba Inu dog and whimsically challenged by grammar, the digital currency was developed as a derivative of Bitcoin in 2013, after which it quickly rose to prominence as a joke.
The Dogecoin TikTok Challenge
It seems that behind the push to promote the cryptocurrency is an onslaught of stuck local market hyperactivity.
TikTok user @ jamezg97 uploaded one of the first TikTok videos with Dogecoin pumping related to the current bonanza in late June. ” Everyone invests so that we can all get rich,” he wrote.
The pumping has been amplified since then. In a more recent video, which has racked up nearly 800,000 views since it was uploaded last week, @ jamezg97 guides his audience through the math of speculative gambling.
“We’re going to get rich,” he says to potential cryptocurrency buyers. “Dogecoin is practically useless. There are 800 million TikTok users. Invest just $ 25. Once the stock hits a dollar, you’ll have $ 10,000. “
At the end of the video, a Shiba Inu rides a rocket on a price chart that indicates a rapid accumulation of wealth. Then there’s a clip of Squidward, a curmudgeonly character from the Nickelodeon TV show SpongeBob, rolling onto his back, singing “future.”
The Dogecoin account itself called for caution. “Be aware of people’s intentions when you tell you to buy things,” the administrator wrote in a post on Twitter. “None of them are in place to advise financially. Make the right decisions for yourself, don’t ride on FOMO or manipulate other people. Stay safe. Be smart.”
Follow the little Dogees
In the quirky world of cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin could be considered the equivalent of a junk penny stock.
That hasn’t stopped the get-rich-quick from promoting the gamble. The drivers believe that if they can persuade enough people to buy, then they can sell for a profit before the price drops again.
It is a classic game of speculation or pump and dump. Buy low, manipulate price higher, sell, and leave another fool “holding the bag,” so to speak.
Unlike Bitcoin, Dogecoin has no limit on its supply. There is no limit to the number of Dogecoins that can enter the market, a feature that virtually guarantees inflation, meaning that each Dogecoin will generally be worth less over time.
At press time, there were over 125 billion Dogecoins on the market, with 10,000 more entering every minute on average. The large and ever-increasing supply of Dogecoin tends to dampen the price action of speculators.
For comparison, there were 18 million Bitcoins on the market out of a possible 21 million Bitcoins at the time of publication. Six and a quarter bitcoins enter the market every 10 minutes or so, a rate that is scheduled to halve every four years until the last Bitcoins are “mined” in the year 2140.
