The rise and rise of dogecoin, the internet’s hottest cryptocurrency

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Jackson Palmer, co-founder of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that uses the Shiba Inu dog character from the 'Doge' Internet meme as its mascot.

Forget about bitcoin. The latest go-to cryptocurrency is called dogecoin, a digital denomination that began life less than two months ago as a jokey tweet made by 26-year-old Australian Jackson Palmer.

That's true virality. [Dogecoin] grew a mind of its own

But his joke has now taken on a life of its own. The total value of the market for dogecoin (pronounced dough-je coin) has just topped $US60 million ($68 million) and it has spawned a community comprising thousands of buyers, sellers, merchants, beggars, speculators and "miners", the people who mint the money.

Virtual economics: Jackson Palmer's jokey tweet took on a life of its own. Photo: Tony Walters

The current value of the bitcoin market is $US10 billion.

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This week, transactions worth a total of $US14 million were made, including one Chinese investor who bought $US5 million worth of the virtual currency. And on a daily basis dogecoin transactions are outstripping those in the more established bitcoin market, albeit for a smaller overall value.

Mr Palmer, who is a product manager based in the Sydney office of the software company Adobe, is both amazed and elated by the experience of introducing so many newcomers to virtual economics.

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The rise and rise of dogecoin, the internet's hottest cryptocurrency