Over the past few weeks, Dogecoin (DOGE) has exhibited a massive surge, significantly outperforming Bitcoin (BTC) and other major altcoins. The memecoin has soared by 170% in the last two weeks, an astounding 250% over the past five weeks, and 95% in just the last five days. This meteoric rise has positioned Dogecoin as one of the top-performing digital assets in the current market landscape.
Why Is Dogecoin Outperforming Bitcoin?
Michael P. Regan, the global team leader for cryptocurrencies at Bloomberg and a former senior markets editor, shed light on this phenomenon during an interview with Bloomberg Crypto. Addressing skepticism from traditional investors regarding Dogecoinโs fundamentals, Regan acknowledged the coinโs unexpected resilience.
โDogecoin, I think, has surprised everybody with its staying power,โ Regan stated. โWhen you talk about the fundamental values, that gets kind of, you know, sort of a philosophical discussion when it comes to crypto. But one thing about Dogecoin thatโs really interesting is it is actually very cheap to transact with, much cheaper than Bitcoin.โ
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Regan highlighted practical use cases that contribute to Dogecoinโs value proposition. โWeโve had storiesโyou do actually find people using it for remittances, you know, people sending money back home to Venezuela to their parents. Itโs a lot cheaper to do that with Dogecoin than most other cryptocurrencies,โ he explained.
Additionally, he mentioned the growing acceptance of Dogecoin in everyday transactions: โThereโs even people developing payments apps. You know, thereโs a pizza place, Williamsburg Pizza in New York, that accepts Dogecoin.โ
Despite its origin as a joke, Regan believes thereโs more to Dogecoin than meets the eye. โIt started as a joke. You know, it still makes me laugh to think about it, but there is something there thatโs a little bit sort of more serious than most people realize, I think,โ he concluded.
The Elon Musk Effect
When asked about the influence of Elon Musk on Dogecoinโs recent rally, Regan didnโt mince words. โThis rally weโve seen, I think, is almost, you know, completely tied to Elon Musk,โ he asserted. Musk, a well-known advocate for Dogecoin, has a history of impacting its price through his public statements and social media activity.
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โElon Musk has been a huge champion of Dogecoin lately. I think, you know, just for the memesโthe guy likes funny memes on the Internet. Dogecoin is sort of the, you know, meme coin of choice on X and Twitter before that,โ Regan remarked.
He emphasized the speculative nature of the memecoin and Muskโs significant role within it. โItโs hard to know exactly, you know, if thatโs as far as Muskโs appreciation for it goes. But regardless, you know, crypto is all about speculation. He likes it,โ Regan said.
Highlighting the impact of Muskโs involvement, Regan concluded, โItโs up almost 200% since the election,โ referring to the hype which the establishment of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) created.
At press time, DOGE traded at $0.38698.
Featured image created with DALL.E, chart from TradingView.com
