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Dogecoin, the joke cryptocurrency, has hit a new all time high. The price of a single dogecoin surpassed 20 cents for the first time on Thursday.
On Friday, the price of Dogecoin (listed as DOGE on the cryptocurrency market) was at around $0.27, marking a nearly 103 percent rise in the last 24 hours, at the time of reporting. Its value reached as high as just over $0.29 at one point in the same time period, according to CoinMarketCap.
Dogecoin's 24-hour trading volume was at $34,914,098,772.67 on Friday, marking a nearly 99 percent increase in the same timeframe, according to CoinMarketCap, at the time of reporting.
The meme cryptocurrency currently ranks eighth among the world's largest cryptocurrencies based on market cap value, which is the total market value of the circulating supply of a cryptocurrency. "It is analogous to the free-float capitalization in the stock market," CoinMarketCap explains.
The price of Dogecoin, which began as a joke when it launched in 2013, has soared from late January, climbing by more than 800 percent at one point. The price flattened out from mid-February and rose on a sharp incline from early April, according to data compiled by CoinMarketCap.
Dogecoin's rise has been helped by social media buzz, with nods from public figures such as Tesla CEO Elon Musk and several celebrities, as well as more recently from Slim Jim, the American snack brand.
The joke cryptocurrency's latest price hike on Thursday reportedly came after a shout-out from the CEO of Conagra Brands, the parent company of Slim Jim. The meat stick brand has been tweeting about Dogecoin from early March.
The Twitter account of Slim Jim saw a 160 percent increase in followers after it began engaging with Dogecoin content. Its tweet impressions also soared, receiving 35 million impressions in 25 days, according to Conagra CEO Sean Connolly, CoinDesk first reported on Thursday.
"We've seen a market uptick in audience interaction, including direct engagement and advocacy from the person that created Dogecoin," Connolly said on an earnings call Thursday.
Joining the "online conversation about the Do Good Everyday sentiment of Dogecoin" has allowed the company to tap into another channel to engage with the community, the CEO said.
Back in early March, Slim Jim tweeted the company would launch a Dogecoin-themed Slim Jim if the tweet received 6,900 retweets. "This is real. This actually rises. I want you to have it. 6,900 RT [retweet]...let's go #DogeSlimJim," Slim Jim tweeted on March 9, sharing a gif of the limited edition Slim Jim.
"YOU are making this happen! - such limited, - very edition, - so meat, - wow, @DogecoinRise we're almost there #DogeSlimJim," the company wrote in another tweet that day.
The limited edition Slim Jim will be launched on April 20, according to a recent post. Slim Jim tweeted on April 13: "GET READY TO GO TO THE MOON TOGETHER! 1 WEEK TO GO!!! We launch #DogeSlimJim on 4/20– Let's take Doing Only Good Everyday HIGHER."
Dogecoin's price surge came after the price of GameStop stocks skyrocketed, which was fueled by investments from users on the subreddit r/WallStreetBets.
Inspired by the GameStop price rise, members of the subreddit r/SatoshiStreetBets—which describes itself as "the crypto version of WallStreetBets"—wanted to try to do the same for Dogecoin.
Members of r/SatoshiStreetBets and another subreddit r/dogecoin previously said they hope to see Dogecoin's price reach at least $1 per coin.
About the writer
Soo Kim is a Newsweek reporter based in London, U.K. She covers various lifestyle stories, specializing in Read more