Scam or Nay? TikTok-Inspired Dogecoin Surge

The world of bitcoin and cryptocurrencies was set alight last week by the sudden surge of dogecoin—a “joke” cryptocurrency that’s doubled in value in the last two days thanks to videos posted on controversial China-based app TikTok.

Dogecoin's recent popularity is ascribed to TikTok
Dogecoin, a now-forgotten cryptocurrency, was pushed into the limelight by TikTok users. Image courtesy of Dmitry Demidko on Unsplash

Dogecoin, a tongue-in-cheek bitcoin rival named by Tesla’s chief executive Elon Musk as his “fav” cryptocurrency last year, is now worth $0.0046, up from $0.0023 earlier this week; effectively making it a cryptocurrency equivalent of a penny stock.

The dogecoin price rally was sparked by a viral TikTok video that’s racked up almost 1 million views. “Let’s all get rich,” TikTok user James Galante told his relatively small number of 5,700 followers in a video that’s now been viewed over 900,000 times. Galante’s previous video, also promoting dogecoin, has been watched around 250,000 times.

Galante used TikTok to drive up sales of Dogecoin
Using the popular social media platform, Tiktok, a user urged members of the community to invest in a “practically worthless” Dogecoin. Image courtesy of Kon Karampelas from Pixabay

“Dogecoin is practically worthless,” Galante told his global audience. “There are 800 million TikTok users. Once it hits $1, you’ll have $10,000. Tell everyone you know.”

TikTok videos, usually short, tightly edited clips featuring predominately younger people and often set to music, can attract huge audiences even if the video creators have few followers. TikTok’s algorithm is good at picking up on what people like and promoting it to a wider audience, meaning that if a video is engaging there’s a good chance it will get seen by a lot of people.

The Dogecoin videos on Twitter became popular because lots of people liked it
The virality of a TikTok video is based on how many people like it. Image courtesy of Ato Aikins on Unsplash

TikTok, which has 37 million U.S. users according to Statista, is potentially facing a country-wide ban after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told Fox host Laura Ingraham this week that the Trump administration is “certainly looking at” a ban and downloading the app would put people’s “private information in the hands of the Chinese Communist Party.”

But in the meantime, TikTok users continue to create and watch lots of dogecoin videos. There are now almost 10 million videos on TikTok with the hashtag “dogecoin,” many with views well into the 10s of thousands.

“We’re sending dogecoin to the moon,” one TikTok user said, pointing his phone at a computer screen showing rocketing financial charts.

US secretary of state Mike Pompeo
US Secretary of State, Mike Pompeo, has said that the country is considering banning TikTok

The sudden attention caused dogecoin trade volume to skyrocket by 1,000% at its peak on Wednesday, according to CoinMarketCap data.

The dogecoin rally, somewhat resembling the bitcoin and crypto mania of late 2017, comes after popular stock trading app Robinhood has seen massive uptake among young people in recent months—many of whom are out of work due to the severe economic downturn brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies peaked in 2017.
Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies peaked in 2017. They have not been able to replicate that success ever since. Image courtesy of WorldSpectrum from Pixabay

However, the dogecoin price is now only a fraction of the peak it reached in early 2018. Dogecoin, along with bitcoin and most other cryptocurrencies, has fallen sharply since hitting sky high values toward the end of 2017.

Elsewhere, veteran traders have also warned against people jumping on the dogecoin wagon.

“This is the most transparent pump-and-dump scam I’ve ever seen, though I’m not sure we can even call it a scam as everybody who gets involved knows it’s a scam beforehand,” Glen Goodman, a U.K.-based trader and author of The Crypto Trader, said via email.

“The TikTok videos urging people to bid up the doge price remind me of some of the world’s most blatant pyramid schemes, where the sales pitch typically goes: ‘Look, we all know this is a pyramid scheme that will collapse eventually, but you will be one of the winners who rakes in the cash, while only the later entrants will lose money.'”

Glen Goodman warns investors to stay away from Dogecoin-TikTok trend.
Glen Goodman, along with other trading veterans, has warned investors to stay away from the Dogecoin-TikTok trend. Image courtesy of Harriman House

A Twitter account associated with the cryptocurrency, @dogecoin, also cautioned potential buyers to beware.

“Be mindful of the intentions people have when they direct you to buy things,” the unverified @dogecoin account that boasts almost 150,000 followers posted.

None of them are in the spot to be financially advising. Make choices right for you, do not ride other people’s [fear of missing out] or manipulation. Stay safe. Be smart.”

For those wondering if they should buy dogecoin now to try to get in on the action, Goodman has some stark words of warning.

“With no fundamentals to support it, the price of dogecoin will only go up as long as the early buyers who are cashing out have new buyers to sell to,” Goodman said. “Once the supply of willing suckers starts running dry, the price collapses.”

Source: Forbes

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