Cryptocurrency

Data Suggests Only Whales Moves Dogecoin

Published

2 years ago

May 6, 2021

It was Doge day afternoon all over again on Wednesday as Dogecoin (DOGE) continued its assault on the cryptocurrency market capitalization rankings. The meme coin overtook XRP to become the fourth-largest cryptocurrency by implied market capitalization after climbing to an All-Time High of $0.69 per-coin valuation — a target that was specifically set by traders on social media.

But cryptocurrency’s latest media darling may not be as wholesome as it seems. For all the hype surrounding Dogecoin (and its de facto master, Elon Musk), publicly available data suggests relatively few people are actually using the blockchain and those who do use its account for an incredibly large portion of its overall activity.

Consider that the dollar value of coins sent across the Dogecoin blockchain on Tuesday exceeded $58 billion. That figure was 70 percent higher than the amount transferred on Bitcoin ($34 billion) and 260 percent higher than on Ethereum ($16 billion).

Digging into on-chain data further, we see that despite Dogecoin moving a higher value of coins than the two largest cryptocurrencies in the world, it achieved this with a mere fraction of their transactions.

Over 1.4 million transactions were counted on the Ethereum blockchain yesterday, according to data from Bitinfocharts, while close to 300,000 were counted on Bitcoin. Compare this to just 76,000 recorded on the Dogecoin blockchain, and an apparent wealth gap begins to emerge.

Indeed, when looking at Dogecoin’s average transaction value on the day in question, it stood at almost double that recorded on Bitcoin (BTC). The average DOGE transaction value stood at $800,000, compared to $420,000 on BTC. Its statistics relative to Ethereum paint an even more dire picture — Dogecoin’s average transaction value exceeded Ethereum’s by 8,000 percent, despite processing only 5 percent of the number of transactions.

Combined with the long-standing reality that one single address holds 28 percent of all coins in existence, while just 12 accounts for 67 percent, it becomes clear that Dogecoin isn’t exactly the people’s champion that interested parties would have the public believe.

A recently published report by Galaxy Digital piled on the misery regarding Dogecoin’s general lack of authenticity as a true cryptocurrency project. Titled “Dogecoin: The Most Honest Sh*tcoin,” the report highlighted the fact that Dogecoin’s GitHub repository (where updates to the blockchain’s code are logged by developers) hasn’t been touched since 2017. What’s more, the number of fully synced nodes (computers running copies of the Dogecoin blockchain) is just 26 percent of the overall node count, suggesting few people are willing to make the effort to maintain the blockchain’s network security.

But even if the Dogehouse seems like a ghost town, the glaring reality remains that Dogecoin is the best performing digital asset in the cryptocurrency space. The coin has recorded 14,000 percent growth since Jan. 1, when it was priced at a fraction of a cent.

Both credit and blame for Doge’s seemingly irrational ascent have been placed on the “Dogefather” himself, Elon Musk, who has taken great pleasure in posting Doge memes to his 52 million followers on Twitter throughout much of 2021.

However, it should also be noted that the coin’s recent peak of $0.69 is the same price target set by Reddit traders intent on artificially pumping DOGE’s valuation. The price point was originally intended to be reached on April 20 — a joke on top of a joke on 4/20 day. Dogecoin only reached a price of $0.420 at the time (boom), but now, a little over two weeks later, it has finally achieved its jocular goals. The ultimate price point being pursued by traders is $1.

If more evidence is needed that markets are not always rational, look no further than this year’s GameStop pump, where the share price of a near-dead brand increased by over 9,000 percent.

“Dogecoin has always been a joke, and the joke keeps getting funnier,” stated the Galaxy Digital report. Author of the report and head of firmwide research at Galaxy Digital Alex Thorn did praise Dogecoin for its lack of pretense, noting that the coin’s fortunes weren’t tied to foundation announcements or developer promises and that its only goal was to elicit a reaction.

“Dogecoin’s longevity is ensured so long as one truism remains: people love a good joke,” Thorn ended.

Up Next

Goldman Sachs Offering Bitcoin Derivatives to Investors

Don't Miss

A New Shift In Bitcoin Mining, More Bitcoin Hashrate Comes From North America Than China

Temitayo Olukoya

Comments

Non-Fungible Token

NFT Sales Plummet 9.91% in Latest Weekly Report

The aggregate NFT sales figure of $72.76 million is nearly 10% lower than the preceding week’s numbers, raising concerns among enthusiasts and investors in the digital collectibles market.

Published

9 hours ago

October 1, 2023

Temitayo Olukoya

Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs) have once again taken a nosedive, marking the sixth consecutive week of declining sales. According to the latest data, NFT sales dropped by a significant 9.91% over the past week, casting a shadow on the vibrant and ever-evolving crypto market, Investors King gathered.

The figures, spanning from September 24 to October 1, 2023, reveal that the total value of NFT sales during this period amounted to approximately $72,767,450. While this might seem like a substantial amount, it represents a notable downturn compared to the previous week’s figures.

Despite the broader crypto economy experiencing an upswing during the same period, NFT sales seem to be struggling to regain their previous momentum. The aggregate NFT sales figure of $72.76 million is nearly 10% lower than the preceding week’s numbers, raising concerns among enthusiasts and investors in the digital collectibles market.

Interestingly, the number of NFT buyers has surged by 17.77% during the past week, reaching a total of 569,407 buyers. Similarly, the number of NFT sellers also saw a notable increase of 15.82%, totaling 714,889 sellers.

Among the various blockchain networks, Ethereum emerged as the clear frontrunner with $37.27 million in NFT sales, representing 51.22% of the week’s total NFT commerce. However, even Ethereum’s dominance couldn’t escape the overall downtrend, as it experienced a modest 1.16% dip in NFT sales compared to the prior week.

Following closely, the Mythos NFT sales secured the second position with an impressive $7.83 million in sales, marking a 13.12% increase from the previous week. Polygon and Solana also made their presence known, securing the third and fourth spots in NFT sales with $7.12 million and $5.86 million, respectively. Immutable X claimed the fifth spot, amassing $5.47 million in sales.

As the NFT market faces headwinds in the face of a broader crypto resurgence, analysts and enthusiasts are closely watching for signs of a potential rebound or a continued decline in the weeks to come.

Cryptocurrency

Mixin Network Halts Services After $200 Million Security Breach; Recovery Plan in Progress

Published

7 days ago

September 25, 2023

Investors King

Mixin Network, a prominent decentralized wallet service provider, has been rocked by a massive security breach resulting in a loss of $200 million.

The breach, attributed to vulnerabilities in its cloud service provider’s database, has raised questions about the platform’s dependence on centralized infrastructure.

Mixin Network, known for its support of 48 public blockchains and an impressive total network asset value exceeding $1 billion, halted deposit and withdrawal services following the breach.

This incident has prompted discussions within the crypto community regarding the risks associated with centralization in decentralized platforms.

In response to the breach, Mixin Network has taken swift action, enlisting the expertise of blockchain security specialists from SlowMist.

The company has pledged to resume services only after thoroughly addressing identified vulnerabilities, a decision reached through consensus among all network nodes.

The plan for asset recovery will be announced in due course, and Mixin founder Feng Xiaodong will provide a detailed explanation in a public livestream.

The Mixin incident follows closely on the heels of the JPEX cryptocurrency exchange scandal in Hong Kong, which has left countless individuals reeling from financial losses totaling $178 million.

Experts now speculate that these recent setbacks may lead the Hong Kong government to reconsider its enthusiastic promotion of Web3 technologies, as concerns over security and public sentiment cast a shadow on the region’s cryptocurrency ambitions.

Carlton Lai, head of blockchain and cryptocurrency research at Daiwa Capital Markets, said, “I think this scandal will have a pretty sizeable negative impact on retail sentiment, given its significant local presence and the various celebrities involved.”

As Hong Kong grapples with the fallout from these high-profile incidents, the future of cryptocurrency in the region remains uncertain, with questions of regulation and security taking center stage.

Cryptocurrency

Dallas Mavericks Owner and Billionaire Tech Investor, Mark Cuban, Falls Victim to Phishing Attack, Losing $870,000 in Crypto Assets

Published

2 weeks ago

September 18, 2023

Samed Olukoya

Mark Cuban, owner of the Dallas Mavericks and a prominent billionaire technology investor, recently fell prey to a phishing attack, resulting in a loss of approximately $870,000 worth of tokens.

The incident occurred over the weekend after months of inactivity on Cuban’s crypto wallet.

Phishing attacks, a prevalent threat in the crypto industry, deceive users into revealing sensitive information, downloading malicious software, and exposing their private data.

These attacks exploit users’ trust, often causing them to overlook the authenticity of incoming requests on their crypto wallets or unwittingly download counterfeit applications designed solely to pilfer their assets.

Cuban’s crypto wallet was emptied of various assets, including U.S.-pegged stablecoins, staked ETH (stETH), SuperRare (RARE) tokens, and some Ethereum Name Service (ENS) domains, according to blockchain data.

The initial discovery of these suspicious transactions was made by the vigilant on-chain investigator @wazzcrypto.

Fortunately, Cuban was alerted to these transactions, and he managed to safeguard over $2.5 million worth of Polygon’s MATIC tokens.

He accomplished this by promptly logging into his wallet and transferring the tokens to a secure Coinbase exchange address.

Cuban revealed that the phishing attack was apparently initiated through a fraudulent MetaMask wallet application that he had unwittingly downloaded.

This incident marks the second high-profile phishing attack in as many weeks, following Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin’s experience in early September. Buterin’s X account was compromised in a phishing attack, although he did not appear to lose any of his own funds.

Nevertheless, unsuspecting users collectively suffered losses of up to $700,000 by sending tokens to a malicious link that falsely appeared to have Buterin’s endorsement.

As the crypto industry continues to thrive, it is crucial for users to exercise caution and remain vigilant to safeguard their digital assets from the ever-present threat of phishing attacks.