Dogecoin (DOGE-USD) is a cryptocurrency which started largely as a joke in 2013, but skyrocketed in popularity this year thanks to the likes of Tesla (TSLA) CEO Elon Musk and Wall Street Bets.

Dogecoin (pronounced with a long "o" and a soft "g") is known as a meme crypto. It was inspired by the Shiba Inu dog in the “doge” internet meme.

The coin can be used for payments similar to Bitcoin (BTC-USD), however its value is fractional in comparison. At the beginning of 2021, the coin was worth less than $0.005 (less than 1 penny). By May of this year, it rose to a high of 63 cents, and its all time high is a little more than 73 cents.

And while old-school financial professionals are still dismissive of the currency, Doge currently holds a market cap of around $26 Billion.

Part of the massive buzz around the coin stems from Reddit's Wall Street Bets forum, known for pumping stocks like GameStop (GME) and AMC (AMC).

In January 2021, the coin spiked more than 800% after Reddit users focused on the cryptocurrency. Shortly afterwards, billionaire Elon Musk began tweeting about doge frequently.

In February Musk posted a picture of Doge on the moon, with the caption: “literally.” The coin rose 20% immediately following the tweet.

For a while, WSB members loved Musk's commentary around the coin - like the time he tweeted he bought Dogecoin for his son. However, the billionaire's appearance on "Saturday Night Live" was the turning point for the rally — and soon after, Musk's controversial walking back of his support for bitcoin helped light the fuse on a broad-based crypto rout that dragged on for weeks.

Meanwhile, dogecoin's soaring popularity has added to the already scorching demand for dogs during COVID-19.

The meme coin "brought something to the forefront," Sandie Rolenaitis, a Shiba Inu breeder, told Yahoo Finance in an interview last month. She noted the dog breed was "best kept secret" and the breed "raised in popularity a lot" because of the interest in the meme coin.

Who accepts Dogecoin? As for right now, not too many places. However, Burger King Brazil just announced it would take 3 Doge for one of its dog treats called Dogpper. It may be more for publicity than a trend.

Ines covers the U.S. stock market. Follow her on Twitter at @ines_ferre

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