Day traders on viral video app TikTok are encouraging people to speculate on a joke cryptocurrency called Dogecoin. Based on an old Internet meme—an overly sincere and whimsically grammar-challenged Shiba Inu—the digital coin was developed as a Bitcoin spinoff in 2013, after which it quickly rose to prominence as a gag.
The shenanigans of the cryptocurrency-pumpers appear to be working, at least for now. The price of Dogecoin has nearly doubled since July 6, rising 95% to $0.00448 from $0.0023, according to data from OnChainFX, a cryptocurrency data tracker.
The price of Dogecoin peaked in January 2018 at $0.013 before promptly crashing.
The Dogecoin TikTok challenge
It appears a flood of stuck-at-home market hypers is behind the push to hype the cryptocurrency.
“Go invest in Dogecoin, make me rich,” wrote one pumper. “They cant stop us all,” encouraged another. Yet one more: “worth it. i swear #stocks #coins #dogecoin #money.”
Paid Content
See the Fortune 500 brought to life through data
From Qlik
TikTok user @jamezg97 uploaded one of the earliest Dogecoin-pumping TikTok videos related to the current bonanza in late June. “If this ever hit a dollar I’d be loaded. Everyone invest so we can all get rich,” he wrote.
The pumping has amplified since. In a more recent video, which racked up nearly 800,000 views since its upload last week, @jamezg97 walks his audience through the math of the speculative bet.
“Let’s all get rich,” he tells would-be cryptocurrency buyers. “Dogecoin is practically worthless. There are 800 million TikTok users. Invest just $25. Once the stock hits one dollar you’ll have 10-grand.”
At the end of the video, a Shiba Inu rides a rocket ship set on a price chart that indicates a rapid accumulation of riches. Then there’s a clip of Squidward, a curmudgeonly character from the Nickelodeon TV show SpongeBob SquarePants, rolling on his back, incanting “future.”
The Dogecoin account itself urged caution. “Be mindful of the intentions people have when they direct you to buy things,” the administrator wrote in a post on Twitter. “None of them are in the spot to be financially advising. Make choices right for you, do not ride other peoples FOMO or manipulation. Stay safe. Be smart.”