Coinbase started accepting inbound transfers of Dogecoin on Tuesday June 1st from 9am PT, following liquidity conditions being met.
The move comes after calls from the Dogecoin community to add the so-called “meme coin” to its trading platform. Dogecoin has a massive cult following of vocal supporters, including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Mark Cuban, the owner of the NBA team the Dallas Mavericks.
Another Step Into the Mainstream
Dogecoin was created by two software engineers back in 2013, and started life as something of a joke, leading it to be known as the world’s first “meme coin”. It was created as something of a staricial commentary on the rising popularity and speculation surrounding cryptocurrencies at the time.
However, despite being created as a meme, Dogecoin was built upon a real and properly functioning payment system. Over time, this has led some people to view it as a legitimate investment product, while others have invested in it to get in on the joke and to make a mockery of traditional financial systems.
This has led to a surge in value over the past year, with it currently trading at $0.32, up 6000% since the start of 2021. Supportive Tweets from celebrities such as Elon Musk and Mark Cuban have caused sudden spikes. It has generally fallen in value soon after such social media hype-driven spikes, however this week’s move by Coinbase now shows a more legitimate step towards Dogecoin being accepted by the more mainstream professional crypto trading community.
Coinbase isn’t the first crypto trading platform to embrace Dogecoin, but it is the biggest and most high profile. Trading apps Robinhood and Gemini both also have Dogecoin available for purchase. In the case of Robinhood, Dogecoin is more suited to their core clientbase – low volume, armchair millennial and Gen-Z traders.
Coinbase is approaching its acceptance of inbound Dogecoin trades with a slight air of caution. According to a blogpost released by Coinbabse last week, the trading platform said that there would be three phases to its Dogecoin launch – post only, limit only and full trading. They added that if the book doesn’t meet their criteria during any of the three phases, they may lock the book in at one phase for an extended time period, or possibly suspend trading altogether.
Coinbase CEO Supports Dogecoin
Brian Armstong, Coinbase CEO, is himself a vocal supporter of the meme-inspired coin. He has made public references to the recent success of Dogecoin, and personally shared the company’s plan to make Dogecoin available on its pro platform.
Despite being available on their pro platform, there is not yet any set plan or timetable for Dogecoin to be added to Coinbase’s primary platform and website. The company has stated that there will be a separate announcement “if and when this is supported”. That now means that retailers, investors and casual traders will still have to use other platforms, such as Robinhood, if they wish to purchase Dogecoin.
