Dogecoin Becomes Fifth Most Valuable Crypto-Currency

In just seven weeks, dogecoin - the crypto-currency created from an internet meme based on a dog's inner thoughts – has become an established player in the world of virtual currencies, becoming the fifth most valuable in the world.

Still some way behind bitcoin's market capitalisation of over $10 billion (£6bn), dogecoin has become the fifth most valuable of more than 80 cryptocurrencies listed by website Coinmarketcap.com with a total value of $61.6 million.

Dogecoin has just overtaken Nxt, which describes itself as a second generation crypto-currency offering a "novel method of eco-friendly mining."

Dogecoin's value has jumped more than 12% in the last 24 hours, boosted by news that it has moved away from dependency to bitcoin, as well as another successful fundraising campaign.

Milstone

This marks another milestone in dogecoin's dramatic rise with the crypto-currency only created seven weeks ago by Australian Jackson Palmer and American Billy Markus.

Dogecoin was first viewed as somewhat of a joke as it was based on the most popular internet meme of 2013, which features pictures of Shiba Inus dogs which have been enhanced with text (in the Comic Sans font) which are said to represent the inner voice of the dog.

However the community which built up around the currency was based on generosity and kindness, rather than looking to make money, which saw dogecoin become the second most-tipped currency online within a week of launching.

Bobsled

However it was the raising of $30,000 for the Jamaican bobsled team to travel to the Winter Olympics which really propelled dogecoin into the limelight, and the community has repeated the feat this week by raising $6,500 in just three hours to help three Indian athletes to travel to Sochi 2014.

This week also marked dogecoin's move towards independence from bitcoin with the launch of a service which allows people buy dogecoin directly with US and Canadian dollars.

The dogecoin community wants to take this crypto-currency "to the moon" and while the moon may still be someway off, it is has made great progress in just seven weeks.