Just when you think the saga of Dogecoin couldn’t get any weirder, the cryptocurrency and its fan base find new ways to surprise you.
Today—4/20—is Doge Day, a hurriedly put together “holiday” of sorts when Dogecoin evangelists hope to see the digital currency hit $1. (Spoiler: Judging by its current performance today, it won’t. The crypto was largely flat in mid-morning trading, hovering in the 38¢ range.) But that doesn’t mean it’s not breaking new ground in other fields.
For example, electronics e-retailer Newegg announced late Monday that it would begin allowing customers to pay for products in Dogecoin. (The retailer was among the first to accept Bitcoin for payment in 2014.)
“The recent surge in Dogecoin value underscores the need to make it easier for customers to make purchases with this popular cryptocurrency,” said Andrew Choi, senior brand manager of Newegg. “We’re happy to give Dogecoin fans an easy way to shop online for tech.”
As if that weren’t enough, a Dogecoin-themed wine for dogs is on the way.
Yes, really.
Called CharDOGEnay, the beverage can be purchased starting today with Dogecoin—and a portion of the sale will be converted into Dogecoin to raise funds for dog shelters at the end of the year. Petwine, the company behind the faux vintage (which is brewed with Alaskan salmon oil and infused with glucosamine and chondroitin), is also hosting a photo contest, with the winner getting 1,000 Dogecoins.
These are hardly the only businesses to jump on the Doge bandwagon. Slim Jim and Snickers posted their own Doge and Dogecoin memes on Twitter in the past few days.
Ultimately, though, Dogecoin traders are more focused on getting the crypto “to the moon” (or that $1 threshold).
Whether it makes it to $1 or not, Dogecoin has had an impressive run this year. The currency started the year at $0.005. One week ago, it was worth just 9¢. That’s a better than 8,000% increase year to date.
Not bad for a currency that’s designed to go nowhere. (Ten thousand new Dogecoins are programmed to be issued every minute for the rest of eternity, meaning the value will never hold.) The crypto’s market value has already topped $50 billion, making it bigger than Ford or Marriott.