Dogecoin is having a moment as prices breach 50 cent ahead of Elon Musk's 'SNL' debut

MW Dogecoin is having a moment as prices breach 50 cent ahead of Elon Musk's 'SNL' debut

By Mark DeCambre

The drive to $1 remains alive for staunch supporters of the crypto

Dogecoin prices are making a fresh run again, pushing the popular crypto to an all-time high above 50 cents, as enthusiasm for the hottest digital asset on the planet refuses to abate.

At last check, dogecoin prices were at 54 cents, up 37%, driving the virtual currency to a market value at around $70 billion, according to CoinDesk and CoinMarketCap.com.

So far this year, dogecoin has soared a mind-numbing 10,694% in the first five months of the year alone.

Put another way, $1,000 Invested in dogecoin at the start of the year would be worth nearly $100,000, based on MarketWatch's calculation of a starting price of 0.005405 cent for dogecoin at the start of 2021 and its current trading price.

Doge's rally got started on the back and SpaceX Chief Executive Elon Musk.

Musk will host "Saturday Night Live" this weekend, which has already drawn cheers and jeers for the technologist. However, dogecoin may be drawing some support from one of the biggest boosters of the asset that competes with bitcoin and other digital assets.

Perhaps adding some support to dogecoin's rally, crypto exchange Gemini announced trading and custody support for the coin. Trading platform eToro also made dogecoin available for trading on its platform.

Two weeks ago, fans of dogecoin, which was created as a parody coin in 2013, aimed to push the value of the surging crypto to $1 on April 20, which came to be known as "Doge day ." And though that drive ended up petering out, investors in the crypto have remained enthusiastic about its prospects.

That is despite criticisms that dogecoin, pronounced "d j-coin," has limited utility compared with other decentralized cryptographic assets, including bitcoin.

CoinDesk data show dogecoin briefly hitting a 24-hour high at around 58 cents, minting a number of millionaires on paper . By comparison, gold futures are down 5% so far this year, the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the S&P 500 index are both up over 10% in 2021, while the Nasdaq Composite Index is up 6%.

-Mark DeCambre; 415-439-6400; AskNewswires@dowjones.com

$(END)$ Dow Jones Newswires

May 04, 2021 10:05 ET (14:05 GMT)

Copyright (c) 2021 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.