Dogecoin, launched as a satirical critique of 2013’s cryptocurrency frenzy, has soared 41% in the last 24 hours to a record $0.69, according to CoinMarketCap. This year alone, Dogecoin has soared over 14,000%, from $0.00468 on Dec. 31, taking it past more widely used cryptocurrencies such as the Tether stablecoin and XRP to become the fourth-largest by market capitalization. Elon Musk endorsed the meme-based cryptocurrency on Twitter as a joke several times. 

Crypto exchange Gemini announces to accept Dogecoin. 

Like other cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin is also highly volatile and its price is heavily influenced by social media users. Earlier this week, the New York crypto exchange Gemini said it would start letting users trade and custody the token. According to some crypto market experts, Dogecoin’s volatility was its main draw, with a mixture of retail investors and market makers fueling its trading volumes. “The ugly truth is that a lot of crypto valuations are divorced from reality anyway,” said Joseph Edwards, head of research at crypto brokerage Enigma Securities. 

Mark Cuban owned Dallas Mavericks accepts DOGE.

Dallas Mavericks, an American professional basketball team, earlier this year revealed that it would start to accept cryptocurrency dogecoin for tickets and merchandise. Dogecoin is not only posting strong price gains, but its adoption has increased in recent months as well. BitPay, a US-based crypto payments company, announced the rollout of Dogecoin payments for merchants and consumers. The company also mentioned that Dallas Mavericks would be the first team to accept Dogecoin. Dallas Mavericks became the first NBA team in 2019 to accept Bitcoin as a payment method for match tickets and merchandise. Earlier this year while appearing on the Ellen DeGeneres show, Mar Cuban suggested the famous talk show host to accept DOGE for her merchandise.