Dogecoin surges to record high_ up almost 300% in a week

The Dogecoin cryptocurrency surged more than 90% to a record high on Friday_ putting its gain for the week at almost 300%.

The latest rally in Dogecoin came two days after billionaire Elon Musk tweeted_  Doge Barking at the Moon _ accompanied by an image of Spanish artist Joan Miró s painting_  Dog Barking at the Moon.

The Tesla chief executive has previously tweeted about Dogecoin_ which is based on a popular internet meme. On Feb. 4_ Dogecoin surged over 60% after Musk tweeted about it.

It last traded at about 34 cents after reaching as high as 45 cents_ according to data on blockchain and cryptocurrency website Coindesk. So far in 2021_ Dogecoin has surged over 7_000.

Dogecoin was created largely as a satirical critique of the 2013 crypto frenzy_ and it can be bought and sold on digital currency exchanges.

What is Dogecoin?

According to CNBC_ the digital token was created in 2013 by software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer as a faster but  fun alternative to Bitcoin. It was started as a satire on the numerous fraud crypto coins that had sprung up at the time_ and takes its name and logo from a Shiba Inu meme that was viral several years ago.

Unlike Bitcoins_ whose maximum possible number is fixed at 21 million (a figure that is estimated to be reached by 2040)_ Dogecoin numbers do not have an upper limit_ and there are already more than 100 billion in existence.

When the crypto coin first took off_ the online community that was backing it invited attention by supporting unconventional causes_ such as sponsoring Jamaica s bobsled team at the 2014 Winter Olympics. Also that year_ the Dogecoin community gave $55_000 worth of the digital token to a Nascar driver in the US.