All the signs show that we are on the brink of a new bullish cycle in the crypto markets. Bitcoin has already surpassed its previous all-time high, and altcoins are starting to warm up. However, it seems that the dynamics of the market have changed significantly since the last bull market.
This time around, meme coins have become a viable investment and speculative instrument. Before major altcoins like Ethereum start outperforming Bitcoin, memes like PEPE and FLOKI are almost at their previous all-time highs.
At the same time, Dogecoin, the original meme coin, is grappling for relevance. The average meme investor has put DOGE aside, seeking the new meme that will promptly do a 100x. However, Dogecoin has shown incredible resilience over the years and very high volatility at specific times in the cycle. It remains the meme coin with the largest community and market cap.
In this article, we analyze DOGE’s potential to benefit from the current meme coin mania. To achieve this, we explore the latest updates to the Dogecoin blockchain. Moreover, we take a look at some technological advancements that might push it toward a genuine DeFi financial instrument.
So, should you buy Dogecoin or take the proven path and conveniently buy Bitcoin with a credit card? Read further to find out.
Exploring Dogecoin’s Goals
Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus launched Dogecoin in 2014 as a mockery of the crypto industry. They took the immensely popular Shiba Inu Doge meme and used its appearance to launch their cryptocurrency. It was their whimsical take on an industry that had started taking itself too seriously.
Unlike many other cryptocurrencies that launched at that time, Doge didn’t look to improve upon Bitcoin’s narrative of a deflationary asset. Instead, Dogecoin proposed a high inflation rate (10,000 minted every minute) and an unlimited supply, on a more scalable and cost-effective network.
This resulted in an immediate success, bringing together an incredible community of mainstream users. Consequently, DOGE quickly became the gateway crypto, an entry point for many aspiring investors into the industry.
Thanks to its high scalability and low price per coin, the Dogecoin community adopted the asset as a tipping currency. Users were able to send DOGE to their favorite content creators at a very low price and support them.
Moreover, since the blockchain uses the Scrypt algorithm, users could mine Dogecoin as a side product of Litecoin mining. This resulted in a widespread asset distribution, contributing to the decentralization of DOGE.
Over the years, Dogecoin amassed an incredible community of supporters, with notable celebrities like Snoop Dogg. However, this narrative culminated with the endorsement of Elon Musk in 2021. This skyrocketed Dogecoin’s popularity into the mainstream and has kept it in the top 3 meme coins ever since.
That said, Doge’s popularity has also contributed to the rise of the meme coin mania, with countless copycats trying to duplicate its success. Some of them, like SHIB, PEPE, and, more recently, BONK, have managed to outperform the original meme coin.
What Should Dogecoin Do to Reach 1$?
So, what should we expect from Dogecoin to be able to catch up to the new rising stars in the meme crypto niche?
Many of them rely on novelty to onboard new investors, which Dogecoin lacks, considering it has already been present in the markets for a decade. Moreover, teams launch these tokens on smart contract-capable networks, allowing them to be plugged into DeFi and NFT ecosystems. In contrast, Dogecoin runs on a first-generation, turing-incomplete blockchain. This limits developers when it comes to Web3 capabilities for DOGE.
However, the Dogecoin community has understood this paradigm shift. Consequently, supporters of DOGE have launched Dogechain, an EVM that acts as a smart contract layer for Dogecoin.
Users can now bridge over their Doge, use it as gas utilize their favorite meme in DeFi applications. Dogechain allows them to trade on DEXes, mint NFTs, and access the growing Web3 narrative Doge was previously lacking.
Additionally, with ordinals, Dogecoin developers released a crucial upgrade to the underlying blockchain. This allows users to inscribe the smallest denomination of DOGE with rich data. Consequently, Dogecoin holders can create tokens and NFTs, similar to the ones available on smart contract blockchains like Solana.
The main advantage is that this technology uses the original Dogecoin blockchain. As a result, the inscription data remains perpetually on-chain, adding value to these novel assets.
Dogecoin Price Prediction
With all that in mind, let’s explore the possible price targets for Dogecoin for the current bullish cycle and beyond. For reference, DOGE is currently trading at around $0.32.
Price Prediction 2025
As the market picks up in the meme coin niche, we can expect Dogecoin to rise in value. Although DOGE gains are less substantial than newer meme coins, the strong community will certainly allow it to reach the $1 level. This would bring it 30% above its previous all-time high.
Price Prediction 2026
Analysts expect the bull market to rally even higher in 2026. Dogecoin is usually a late bloomer in these cycles. However, once it picks up, we can expect much higher volatility. In the last bull market, DOGE managed an 80x price increase. Following this reasoning, we can expect at least a 20x growth, easily reaching the $2 mark in this period.
Price Prediction 2030
For 2030, we can expect the market to enter a new bullish cycle. At this point, Dogecoin could be reaching the $5 level, reaching a $500 billion market cap.
Conclusion
Dogecoin might have fallen off the meme coin hype a bit, considering the inflow of new high-opportunity tokens in this niche. However, its resilience in the markets and the new narratives (L2 EVMs, ordinals) could accelerate its adoption and popularity. Consequently, we could see DOGE reach the legendary $1 level already in 2025.
