When Billy Markus, co-founder of Dogecoin, initiated DOGE's creation, he couldn't anticipate the meme-based coin's eventual rise to become one of the globe's most renowned cryptocurrencies. Starting as a lighthearted jest among friends, it unexpectedly generated immense wealth and unified the crypto community through the influence of memes.

Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH) might be the future of finance, but DOGE made crypto relatable to thousands for the first time.

What do we know about the man behind digital currency's most accessible altcoin? Why did the founder of Dogecoin (DOGE) abandon the blockchain project after less than two years into its lifespan?

Who is Billy Markus?

Billy Markus, recognized for his accomplishments as a software engineer and programmer, gained prominence primarily for co-founding Dogecoin alongside Jackson Palmer. Despite a thriving professional journey, Markus is predominantly acknowledged within the crypto sphere under his social media pseudonym, Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@billym2k).

Prior to making his mark in blockchain development, Markus served as a software developer at International Business Machines (IBM). At IBM, he contributed to the development of the company's web services and cloud computing software, showcasing his expertise in these domains.

Birth of Dogecoin

In late 2013, Billy Markus teamed up with co-founder Jackson Palmer to bring Dogecoin into existence. Initially conceived as a playful alternative to Bitcoin, it stemmed from a casual jest between the duo. Surprisingly, within its inaugural month, the Dogecoin website attracted over a million visitors.

What often escapes notice about Dogecoin is its origin as a fork of a more serious altcoin. Markus and Palmer utilized the framework of the Litecoin network, enabling Dogecoin to facilitate quicker and more cost-effective transactions compared to Bitcoin.

The founders aimed to inject some levity into the increasingly tense crypto landscape. They perceived the cryptocurrency market as excessively stressful due to its volatility, prompting them to create an environment that felt less daunting.

The Departure

According to his personal website, Billy Markus parted ways with Dogecoin in 2014. Online harassment and threats from Dogecoin investors pushed him to step back from the project. Consequently, Markus and Palmer entrusted the future of Dogecoin to a fresh team of developers who have since continued to propel the Dogecoin ecosystem forward.

Around this time, Markus also lost his job and sold most of his cryptocurrency holdings to buy a Honda Civic. 

When looking back on the entire phenomenon, Markus acknowledges its influence and absurdity. He reflects, “It’s weird that something I made in a few hours is now part of internet culture.”

NFT Career

Despite stepping away from involvement with Dogecoin, Markus hasn't completely left the Web 3 world. Under his Twitter alias Shibetoshi Nakamoto, the Dogecoin founder has released several NFT collections on the Ethereum blockchain.

Who Leads Dogecoin Now?

By now, you're probably wondering: If Billy Markus has left Dogecoin behind, who's walking this dog towards its bright future?

Established in 2014, the Dogecoin Foundation was birthed to advocate for and support the Dogecoin project. A simple yet profound mantra drives the Dogecoin Foundation: "Do Only Good Everyday." This ethos, deeply embedded in the Dogecoin community's DNA, guides the Foundation's endeavors and ensures that Dogecoin remains true to its roots in a market plagued with speculative and selfish interests.

At the head of the pack, the Dogecoin Foundation is led by a team of developers, Jens Wiechers, Michi Lumin, and Timothy Stebbing. Their collective expertise and passion for everything Dogecoin represents has remained steadfast throughout several crypto cycles, giving DOGE holders faith that the cryptocurrency project will continue to endure.

Here Comes Elon Musk

Elon Musk, renowned as the mind behind Tesla and SpaceX, stands as one of Dogecoin's most prominent advocates. Musk views Dogecoin as 'the people's currency,' elevating it above Bitcoin or Ethereum in terms of lower fees and quicker transaction speeds.

Bitcoin's reliance on proof-of-work consensus poses a concern for Musk. Despite initially announcing Tesla's acceptance of BTC payments for their electric vehicles in 2021, Musk reversed this decision, citing Bitcoin's environmental unsustainability, conflicting with Tesla's commitment to eco-friendly transportation. In contrast, Dogecoin's energy efficiency presents a more favorable alternative.

Musk's support for Dogecoin transcends mere verbal endorsements. In 2022, Tesla initiated the acceptance of DOGE as a payment method on their website. Moreover, Dogecoin holders gained the ability to utilize DOGE for paying Tesla service charges at SuperCharger stations.

As you'd expect, Elon Musk's avid support of Dogecoin has led to several humorous engagements between the two on social media. In particular, Musk's posts are known to cause significant movements in the price of DOGE.

Most recently, Elon Musk changed the Twitter bird icon to a picture of the Dogecoin logo within the app. This easter egg sent ripples of excitement throughout the cryptocurrency community, who anticipate that DOGE will somehow be integrated into future updates of 𝕏, the newly rebranded social media platform.

Since Elon has taken the reins, Billy Markus has quickly pointed out that his earnings revenue from the platform took a nosedive. Markus noted that his payouts were only around a third of what had been just two weeks ago but attested that it's "all magic bonus money," diffusing any potential tension.

Elon responded, lamenting that X revenue share is still "very much beta code" and expects it to become more stable over time.

Is Dogecoin Dead in 2023?

While Dogecoin (DOGE) has lost over 90% of its value since its record all time high in May 2021, it wouldn't be fair to call it dead since it's still the eighth-largest cryptocurrency by market capitalization.

In 2021, DOGE made history by putting meme coins on the crypto map. From January to May, DOGE exploded over 13,000% to a market cap of over $70 billion, becoming the fourth-largest cryptocurrency at the time, only behind Bitcoin, Ethereum, and Binance Coin.

Source: TradingView

As of the end of September 2023, Dogecoin is trading at only six cents, fluctuating within a horizontal channel since mid-August of this year. Below is the price of Dogecoin today.

The cryptocurrency has been trading within a narrow range for all of 2023, peaking at $0.10 in April.

The coin has repeatedly tested a robust support level just below $0.06, both this year and last year. If it fails to regain upward momentum, the bearish pressure could intensify.

So is Dogecoin dead in 2023? This is a complicated question. Dogecoin hasn't been able to show any signs of recovery for years. However, a cryptocurrency with the eighth-largest market cap ($9 billion) does not appear to be a "dead" coin.

DOGE has a larger market cap than Tron, Polygon, Optimism, Litecoin, Chainlink, and Avalanche.

Dogecoin is waiting for its moment, and no one knows when it will come or if it will ever come at all. The end of 2023 is important because the coin is testing the important support level again and again, and we'll see if the community is capable of fueling resistance. Other than that, it's not reasonable to make long-term predictions for meme coins.

Another important thing to remember is that Dogecoin doesn’t use a deflationary model like Bitcoin, having an unlimited supply. Therefore, it was created to favor stability over speculation by design.

Dogecoin isn't dead, but a value of five cents could potentially represent its fair price, offering the possibility of exploring use cases in the future.