Dogecoin surges AGAIN after Elon Musk supports ‘important’ change to slash crypto transaction fees by 100 times
THE price of Dogecoin has surged once more after Elon Musk backed new moves to massively slash its transaction fees.
The mega-rich Tesla boss said it was “important to support” the plan after previously calling for Dogecoin to become the crypto currency of the internet.
The proposal would reduce the average fee of a standard transaction by around 100 TIMES.
But a word of warning - buying any cryptocurrency is a seriously risky business.
They're highly volatile meaning your cash can go down as well as up in no time at all - and you must be prepared to lose all of your cash if things go wrong.
Make sure you've carried out thorough research and never invest in something you don't understand.
5 risks of crypto investments
THE Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has warned people about the risks of investing in cryptocurrencies.
- Consumer protection: Some investments advertising high returns based on cryptoassets may not be subject to regulation beyond anti-money laundering requirements.
- Price volatility: Significant price volatility in cryptoassets, combined with the inherent difficulties of valuing cryptoassets reliably, places consumers at a high risk of losses.
- Product complexity: The complexity of some products and services relating to cryptoassets can make it hard for consumers to understand the risks. There is no guarantee that cryptoassets can be converted back into cash. Converting a cryptoasset back to cash depends on demand and supply existing in the market.
- Charges and fees: Consumers should consider the impact of fees and charges on their investment which may be more than those for regulated investment products.
- Marketing materials: Firms may overstate the returns of products or understate the risks involved.
Ross Nicoll, a Dogecoin Core contributor, shared a tweet related to the fee slashing drive and Musk replied it was “important to support.”
Dogecoin's price jumped 8% after Musk's short comment on his Twitter feed - which has 57.6m followers.
The recommended lower limit for sending a DOGE transaction is currently one DOGE.
However, Patrick Lodder, the developer who created the ambitious , wants to cut this amount to just 0.01 DOGE.
He said the changes “to reduce average fees 100x for standard transactions on the Dogecoin chain" will keep the "network healthy.”
In the wake of Musks's tweet DOGE's price subsequently rallied and is at $0.261 at publishing time according to crypto data firm CoinMarketCap.
The proposal also won the support of Dogecoin co-creator Billy Markus, who goes by the handle Shibetoshi Nakamoto on Twitter.
He reminded the crypto cash community that he set the fee model to “1 DOGE in 2013 after a spam attack” and that “it would be cool to see it get reduced eight years later!”
Dogecoin has seen wild price swings this year.
It initially surged in January, jumping by a staggering 972% from $0.007 (less than 1p) the day before.
That was off the back of a bunch of Reddit threads calling for it to hit a value of $1 per coin.
The target was an attempt to mirror a share surge in heavily shorted companies like GameStop.
On May 4, the coin reached its highest value yet of $0.4854, after enjoying public backing from Musk on Twitter.
In April, the billionaire named himself the ‘Dogefather’ ahead of his appearance on SNL.
But the coin plunged from $0.70 to $0.47 after the show, and its value has since experienced ups and downs.
Dogecoin started as an more than seven years ago, according to CNN, but has since become a legitimate digital currency.
Jackson Palmer, an Australian marketer, made a joke about combining cryptocurrency and the Doge meme in 2013, but that joke has taken on a life of its own.
Dogecoin is simply a with a picture of dog on it.
That dog is the subject of an internet meme of a Shibe with an “inner monologue” featuring phrases like "so scare," "much noble," and "wow."
Most read in Money
In January, Musk noted that his posts about Dogecoin are "just meant to be jokes".
READ MORE SUN STORIES
But they clearly have a real impact on the value of the cryptocurrency.
In response to his Dogefather tweet, several people replied with various memes of Musk with “Doge” and with phrases like “Dogerise” and “Doge taking over the world!”