Initially developed as an elaborate joke by Jackson Palmer and Billy “Shibetoshi Nakamoto” Markus in 2014, Dogecoin (DOGE) today is one of the top 10 valuable assets in the crypto market. It is also the most prominent and widely considered to be the first meme coin: a cryptocurrency based on an internet meme that may or may not have other fundamental qualities to back its value up.
Dogecoin transactions get recorded on its own blockchain, which makes DOGE a coin, while most meme coins these days are tokens, i.e. running on another blockchain. It inspired many meme coins with a dog theme, such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), BONK, and dogwifhat. Regardless, none of the coins and tokens it inspired have quite reached the level of notoriety DOGE still has.
Dogecoin is currently the most valuable Proof-of-Work (mineable) cryptocurrency by market capitalization, merge mined with Litecoin (LTC). Despite the meme status and unsophisticated protocol design, its market position attracted industry-grade miners and institutional investors through a Dogecoin ETF.