The world of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies has been set alight this week by the sudden surge of dogecoina "joke" cryptocurrency that's doubled in value in the last two days thanks videos posted on controversial China-based app TikTok.
Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek bitcoin rival named by Tesla TSLA chief executive Elon Musk as his "fav" cryptocurrency last year, is now worth $0.0046, up from $0.0023 earlier this week; effectively making it a cryptocurrency equivalent of a penny stock.
The dogecoin price rally was sparked by a viral TikTok video that's racked up almost 1 million viewswith the likes of Barstool Sports' David Portnoy pushing it onwards.
The doge meme is based on the Japanese Shiba Inu. The meme was turned into the "joke" currency ... [+] dogecoin, a cryptocurrency similar to bitcoin, in 2013.
"Lets all get rich," TikTok user James Galante told his relatively small number of 5,700 followers in a video that's now been viewed over 900,000 times. Galante's previous video, also promoting dogecoin, has been watched around 250,000 times.
"Dogecoin is practically worthless," Galante told his global audience. "There are 800 million TikTok users. Once it hits $1, youll have $10,000. Tell everyone you know."
TikTok videos, usually short, tightly edited clips featuring predominately younger people and often set to music, can attract huge audiences even if the video creators have few followers. TikTok's algorithm is good at picking up on what people like and promoting it to a wider audience, meaning that if a video is engaging there's a good chance it will get seen by a lot of people.
TikTok, which has 37 million U.S. users according to Statista, is potentially facing a country-wide ban after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox host Laura Ingraham this week the Trump administration is "certainly looking at" a ban and downloading the app would put people's "private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party."
TikTok, which has been downloaded more than two billion times globally, was banned in India last week amid security concerns and has also quit Hong Kong after China imposed a new security law on the city.
TikTok, now run by a former Disney top executive, Kevin Mayer, has said it would never share data with China.
But in the meantime, TikTok users continue to create, and watch, lots of dogecoin videos. There are now almost 10 million videos on TikTok with the hashtag "dogecoin," many with views well into the 10s of thousands.
"We're sending dogecoin to the moon," one TikTok user said, pointing his phone at a computer screen showing rocketing financial charts.
The sudden attention caused dogecoin trade volume to skyrocket by 1,000% at its peak on Wednesday, according to CoinMarketCap data.
Meanwhile, the TikTok-inspired dogecoin rally caught the attention of Dave Portnoy, the founder of Barstool Sports who has turned to stock market day trading amid coronavirus lockdowns and massive share price rallies brought on by unprecedented intervention by the U.S. Federal Reserve.
"What's going on with dogecoin," Portnoy asked viewers of his Barstool Sports livestream Davey Day Trader, adding he "isn't in on bitcoin and litecoin" and other cryptocurrencies.
"Everyone is buying this dogecoin. It's a pump-and-dump. Dogecoin is bubbly ros," Portney told his viewers, a term he coined meaning a stock or commodity that's performing well.
The dogecoin rally, somewhat resembling the bitcoin and crypto mania of late 2017, comes after popular stock trading app Robinhood has seen massive uptake among young people in recent monthsmany of whom are out of work due to the severe economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.
However, the dogecoin price is now only a fraction of the peak it reached in early 2018. Dogecoin, along with bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies, have fallen sharply since hitting skyhigh values toward the end of 2017.
Elsewhere, veteran traders have also warned against people jumping on the dogecoin wagon.
"This is the most transparent pump-and-dump scam I've ever seen, though I'm not sure we can even call it a scam as everybody who gets involved knows it's a scam beforehand," Glen Goodman, a U.K.-based trader and author of The Crypto Trader, said via email.
"The TikTok videos urging people to bid up the doge price remind me of some of the world's most blatant pyramid schemes, where the sales pitch typically goes: 'Look, we all know this is a pyramid scheme that will collapse eventually, but you will be one of the winners who rakes in the cash, while only the later entrants will lose money.'"
The dogecoin price has almost doubled this week but the rapid rise is unlikely to hold, veteran ... [+] traders have warned.
A Twitter account associated with the cryptocurrency, @dogecoin, also cautioned potential buyers to beware.
"Be mindful of the intentions people have when they direct you to buy things," the unverified @dogecoin account that boasts almost 150,000 followers posted.
"None of them are in the spot to be financially advising. Make choices right for you, do not ride other people's [fear of missing out] or manipulation. Stay safe. Be smart."
For those wondering if they should buy dogecoin now to try to get in on the action, Goodman has some stark words of warning.
"With no fundamentals to support it, the price of dogecoin will only go up as long as the early buyers who are cashing out have new buyers to sell to," Goodman said. "Once the supply of willing suckers starts running dry, the price collapses."
Go here to see the original:
Lets All Get RichTeen TikTok Traders Want To Send Joke Bitcoin Rival Dogecoin To The Moon - Forbes
- The Worlds First Bitcoin Debit Card Is Almost Here [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Google removes malware Android apps used to secretly mine bitcoin [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin runner-up Litecoin emerges as low-price challenger [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- How does Bitcoin work? - Bitcoin - Open source P2P money [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- POLICE STATE USA - COP Goes CRAZY at INNOCENT Black Guys Filming a Wal-Mart in Houston - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- START MINING LITECOIN with Home Built LITECOIN MINING RIG (FORGET BITCOIN) ----- THE FUTUR - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin going to $10,000 - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin going over $1,000 - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Trading Robot - The First Automated Bitcoin Robot - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin or Gold? Squawk Walk Taipei- Squawkonomics - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Miner AntMiner S1 180 - 200 GH/s Nu in de Aanbieding! - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin Documentary: Boom or Bust - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Revolution Is Just Beginning (Full Interview) - Video [Last Updated On: April 27th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 27th, 2014]
- Market Extra: Bitcoin venture capital money hasnt kept up with buzz [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Exchange BTC China Cuts Ties With China Merchants Bank [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips as China steps up regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin price slips on China regulation [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Win .33 Bitcoin ($150 or so, Depending on BTC value) - Meme game for May 1st - Take My Bitcoins - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin May v0.9.1 GitHub Source Code Development Visualization - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Jaromil on Russia TV about Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Atomic-Trade Bitcoin Exchange. AML, BSA, FinCEN compliant - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Breaks Down Bitcoin - global economic crisis - max Keiser - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Group #27 - China Bans Bitcoin Again - Politics - Dark Market - Bitcoin VC - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Edan Yago - Free Market Bitcoin regulation and Honduras free trade zones.mp4 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- btc.sx Bitcoin derivatives platform George Samman clip - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- China Bans Bitcoin Again -- Bitcoin the Movie -- Startup for Startups Raises 2,000 BTC - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Video: Roundup of This Week's Bitcoin News 25th April 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin and the Internet of Money - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Virgin Group founder Richard Branson, why he's decided to accept Bitcoin for space travel? - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin for Dummies - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Live Butterfly Labs Mining Cam- Take My BitCoins- win free Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Market Extra: Bitcoin is like the early Internet, minus the VC money [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- 'The Rise And Rise Of Bitcoin' Filmmaker: 'There Is No Answer Yet' [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin the movie: It just had to happen [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Expo 2014: Fireside Chat with Dr Gavin Wood - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- reXBT.com Andreas M. Antonopoulos L.A. Bitcoin Meetup The Network Effect Part 2 of 8 - Video [Last Updated On: April 28th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 28th, 2014]
- Bitcoin: what happens when the miners pack up their gear? [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- New Bitcoin student club at MIT will promote the virtual currency [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Dark Wallet Is About to Make Bitcoin Money Laundering Easier Than Ever [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Vies with New Cryptocurrencies as Coin of the Cyber Realm [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- 4/29/14 - MIT Bitcoin Project, Mt Gox revival plan, Mastercard lobbyists & Team Rubicon - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Mini Bitcoin Mining Rig with 11 USB Block Erupter from ASICminer - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Is Bitcoin Over? Mt. Gox Pauses Withdrawals - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- BitCoin Dentist GoCoin Fox News Interview - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Blockchain Bitcoin BitMe iNjector Instant wallet funds adder - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Generator Feb 2014 NO SURVEY - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Free Bitcoin Generator 2013 1 0v Download Miner Tool 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- MAX KEISER - BITCOIN Is The FUTURE - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Meetup - BitcoinMKE Hosts Jeffrey Tucker - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- MIT Bitcoin Expo 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin, gold and competitive currencies - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Foundation Election Hiccups -- Pathetic Ohio Bans Bitcoins -- Dogecon SF 2014 - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Keiser Report: Gold, Silver, Bitcoin FTW! (E527) - Video [Last Updated On: April 30th, 2014] [Originally Added On: April 30th, 2014]
- Bitcoin Talk Show #7 -- Skype BitcoinTalkShow to Call in Live! 🙂 - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Turbo Miner | Fast Bitcoin Generator | NEW [Updated April 2014] Direct Download! No waiting! - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Basic Bitcoin Bitches - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Gold standard vs Fiat vs Bitcoin - Truthloader - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin Exchange - Bitcoin Predictions & Live Market Action! - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- The Bitcoin Revolution is Just Beginning (Preview) - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- How to Defund the System: Bitcoin vs. the Central Banksters - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Bitcoin, Anarchy and Freedom with Roger Ver - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- bitcoin dogecoin donations and i ramble a ton - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- Techcrunch - Is Bitcoin or Litecoin The New Euro-Disrupt Europe 2013 (Part1) - Video [Last Updated On: May 1st, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 1st, 2014]
- MIT Goes Bitcoin-Wild [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin Weekly 2014 April 30: Bloomberg adds Bitcoin to their market index, MIT to produce campus-wide bitcoin ... [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- 'Dark Wallet' wants to make Bitcoin even harder to trace [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Better than Bitcoin! Creating Multiple Sources of Income, Growing Tomatoes - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- What is Bitcoin? - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- James Altucher Discusses the Future of Twitter and the Bitcoin - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin made simple (video animation) - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Jon Matonis: Bitcoin - The future of commerce? - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- $100 in Bitcoin Going to Every MIT Undergrad - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Should I Invest in Bitcoin? Stock Market Investment Advice Mining, Price, Exchange, Value - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- The Rise of Digital Currency (documentary) - Video [Last Updated On: May 2nd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 2nd, 2014]
- Bitcoin: How We Got Here and Where We Are Going [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- CIA Bitcoin CONSPIRACY, SILVER TO BREAK THE ECONOMY - Andy Hoffman & Chris Duane - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- 5/1/14 - Larry Summers warns critics, Paym system & Bitcoin Center NYC roundtable - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]
- On est Connect S2 #07 1/2 : BitCoin et Musique sur Internet - Video [Last Updated On: May 3rd, 2014] [Originally Added On: May 3rd, 2014]