Cryptocurrencies are always roller-coaster investments, but one that's taken dedicated investors to lofty peaks and -- at times almost as quickly -- punishing lows is Dogecoin (DOGE 6.40%).
The most well-known of all the numerous meme coins that have come in its wake, Dogecoin began as a satirical project sending up cryptocurrencies in general. Unintentionally, it became a major star in that galaxy. But I'm not here to judge a popularity contest; I really want to answer the question posed by the headline -- is Dogecoin a worthy investment at the moment?
Billions of doggies
Dogecoin has a massive float of over 151 billion (yes, that's billion with a "b") coins. Right away, there are two appealing facets of this.
Image source: Getty Images.
First, a high number of Dogecoins hovering in cyberspace means that the coin is ridiculously cheap. Even after the great crypto price run-up of recent times, one Dogecoin will only set an investor back a mere $0.24 these days -- and that's rounding up! There's something attractive about having 10,000 units of an asset for less than the average monthly mortgage payment in many U.S. states.
Two, investor psychology is such that on a per-Dogecoin basis, the crypto's price is minuscule. So even a generous investment into it doesn't feel anywhere near the sacrifice of owning, say, a single Bitcoin for a cool $112,000 or so. It also makes Dogecoin feel less risky, even though in many respects it's the more volatile play.
Fun but unpredictable
But understandable reasons don't necessarily make for wise investments. Even though many investors have timed the peaks well with Dogecoin and made money, I feel that as a meme coin with basically no utility, its price movements are too dependent on hard-to-predict outside factors (Elon Musk's latest adventure, for example, or an unrelated government initiative cribbing its name).
Dogecoin is unarguably one of the more entertaining cryptos on the scene. But as an investment, I'd personally give it a miss.
