Dogecoin is an open source peer-to-peer cryptocurrency forked from Litecoin in December 2013 and originally developed by Billy Markus, an IBM programmer, and Jackson Palmer, an Adobe programmer. Although intended as a fun cryptocurrency and a parody of Bitcoin it has attracted a large following.
In contrast to Bitcoin (and Litecoin), whose basic concept envisages a shortage of supply, Dogecoin is deliberately in abundance. Every minute, 10,000 new coins are generated and there is no upper limit. Dogecoin therefore is clearly inflationary (albeit with a decreasing inflation rate).
In 2014, the Dogecoin Foundation was incorporate but was largely inactive until its relaunch in 2021. Prominent advisors to the foundation include Vitalik Buterin (co-founder of Ethereum) and an Elon Musk’s family office representative. The foundation recently published its first-ever road map focusing on Dogecoin utility and ecosystem.
The name Dogecoin and the logo depicting a Shiba Inu are based on a meme but for now Dogecoin succeeded as a peer-to-peer cryptocurrency.