- Dogecoin, in just a few months, has sent retail investors into a crypto frenzy, so much so that BitPay executive says it is now a bigger payment option than most coins.
- The view on Dogecoin has been contrasting – while some influential individuals such Elon Musk and Mark Cuban have taken a liking to it, some like CNBC’s Jim Cramer and Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson have been dismissive.
In recent weeks, Dogecoin has been on an impressive bull run. While most can point to Elon Musk for drawing attention to it, undoubtedly in the past few months, it has witnessed a lot of retail adoration. As Bitcoin has been slowing down in price performance, Dogecoin’s profile has continued to rise, not only for its investment value but payment value.
BitPay’s Chief Commerical Officer, Sonny Singh, has in an interview with Bloomberg revealed that Bitcoin’s payment value is drastically dropping. Retail investors are now preferring to pay with altcoins over Bitcoin, with Dogecoin leading in this front.
BitPay is a crypto payment service provider. It offers a crypto processing service for merchants. The company processes over $1 billion in payments annually.
Are people spending crypto?
Singh has revealed that unlike four years ago when Bitcoin accounted for 95% of payments processed by BitPay, altcoins are now popular options. Bitcoin’s dominance has in recent weeks fallen and is at a record low.
Last week we had our lowest Bitcoin by a measure with 50 per cent. We are seeing a lot more volume coming from Dogecoin…We saw over 10 per cent of our transactions come from Dogecoin
The COO believes there is a shift both in retail buying and spending with most retailers now choosing altcoins to Bitcoin for both investments and transactions.
One of BitPay’s most notable clients is Mark Cuban. The billionaire announced that his NBA franchise, the Dallas Mavericks would start accepting Dogecoin last month. The NBA team was the first to accept Dogecoin after BitPay rolled out this option. At the time, Cuban stated,
The Mavericks have decided to accept Dogecoin as payment for Mavs tickets and merchandise for one very important, earth-shattering reason because we can! Because we can, we have chosen to do so. We have chosen to do so because sometimes, in business, you have to do things that are fun, engaging and hopefully generate a lot of PR.
In April, BitPay has processed over 6K Dogecoin transactions.
Just talked to my friends at @BitPay, they do the Mavs Doge sales. Not only do the Mavs sales continue to grow, but @Bitpay says they are on track to do 6k Doge transactions in April ! 🚀🚀🚀
— Mark Cuban (@mcuban) April 26, 2021
Is Dogecoin a bubble?
But while the retail interest is undeniable, some analysts are adamant that the price movement of Dogecoin is manipulated. CNBC’s Jim Cramer is not a fan of Dogecoin and believes that it is being pushed by hype generated by billionaires. In a recent blog post by the TV personality, he noted,
Dogecoin was meant as a joke and it is still a joke except a lot more people are on it. I think a more serious market would be a betting market on the direction of dogecoin because the currency’s action is more reminiscent of sports betting. Why not? To me its just a sport, so why not gamble on it.
Cardano’s Charles Hoskinson has held the same view, as we reported. Hoskinson believes that other than a few billionaires taking a liking to it, there are whales manipulating its price. Furthermore, he has warned that the bubble will burst and retailers will end up losing a lot of money. In such a case, he expects regulators to be drawn into the industry and introduce restrictive regulations.
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