A few days ago, the co-founder of Ethereum became one of the world’s newest billionaires as the value of his ETH coins hit an all-time high. But even the recent surges of ETH and Bitcoin can’t compare to one quirky cryptocurrency, DogeCoin.
In fact, the Shiba Inu-themed coin has skyrocketed by an incredible 1400% over the past year, jumping from just 4.5 cents to 70 cents per coin. That kind of rise has made a lot of holders very rich.
You’d think the founders of DogeCoin would be billionaires too, but that’s not the case for one of them, programmer Billy Markus.
Two months ago, in an effort to explain DogeCoin’s “true value,” the 38-year-old software engineer posted an open letter on Reddit’s r/dogecoin sharing his thoughts on the crazy price surge. Markus revealed that he and co-founder Jackson Palmer created DogeCoin as a joke back in 2013, and never expected it to blow up like this.
Markus himself admitted he left the project in 2015 because he couldn’t handle the pressure and growing online ridicule. He sold all his DogeCoin holdings for just enough money to buy a used Honda Civic.
“I’m no longer part of the DogeCoin project. I left in 2015 when the community started changing quickly from a group I felt comfortable with.” Markus wrote in his open letter.
“I don’t hold any DogeCoin now except a few coins I was recently gifted. I gave away or sold all my crypto back in 2015 after being laid off and worrying about my dwindling savings. The money I got was just enough to buy a used Honda Civic.”
“I’m not really interested anymore, but it’s strange that something I created in a few hours became part of internet culture.” Markus added. “It’s fun to see Elon Musk talk about it. It feels silly, but behind it is a massive explosion.”
Today, Markus works for an education company in the San Francisco Bay Area. Although DogeCoin started as a joke, its market cap has reached as high as $120 billion, more than double Honda’s $54 billion valuation. If Markus had held onto his DogeCoin, he’d have more than just a used Honda Civic by now.
Source: LuxuryLaunches
