Dogecoin keeps spawning pups, and this time, it could be quite a litter. In yet another spinoff of the crypto industry’s biggest meme, fractionalized ownership of the non-fungible token (NFT) of the original Shiba Inu image that launched Dogecoin is up for sale today in the form of $DOGE tokens, Bloomberg reports.
Fast facts
- Ownership is being tokenized by the owner of the Dogecoin non-fungible token, PleasrDAO, who paid 1,696.9 ETH — itself a meme number — or US$4 million for the NFT in June, a record amount for an NFT of a meme. PleasrDao, a collective of decentralized finance leaders, will retain majority ownership, however. The starting price for $DOGE will be under US$1 to target retail investors.
- The auction will begin on DeFi protocol Miso, which will distribute tokens to participants. The tokens will be available to be resold — in many cryptocurrencies, not just Dogecoin — on decentralized exchange Sushi Swap.
- Jamis Johnson, “chief pleasing officer” of PleasrDAO, told Bloomberg: “Doge is unquestionably the king of all memes, and PleasrDAO could not be more excited to invite anyone in the world to own a piece of something so integral to the cultural history of the internet… The future is bright for communities built around the shared possession of an idea and we believe fractionalized Doge, the Mona Lisa of the internet, will be a shining example of this odd new world we live in.”
- The Doge meme itself may have faded into obscurity were it not for a cryptocurrency created in tribute at the height of the meme’s popularity. Created in 2013 as a way of making fun of Bitcoin, Dogecoin remained a relatively minor token with its market value close to zero until it exploded in popularity in May this year, briefly becoming the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by market cap and spawning the genre of tokens known as “memecoins.”
- Dogecoin has since slid back to seventh place but continues to spawn copycat tokens hoping to emulate the rapid growth the token saw. Some premier examples of these include Shiba Inu token, taking its name from the breed of dog Doge was based on, and Baby Doge. Elon Musk, whose support contributed to DOGE’s initial price rise, has also thrown his support behind SHIB and Baby Doge on numerous occasions.
- After reaching a two-month high of US$0.3489 in mid-August, Dogecoin’s price has been steadily decreasing and was trading at US$0.2748 at publishing time.