Dogecoin (DOGE -1.56%) has traded below $0.10 per coin for the majority of 2026. It recently dipped under $0.07, a level not seen since 2023, which represented a 90% discount to its all-time high of $0.73 from five years ago. However, a beaten-down cryptocurrency isn't necessarily a cheap cryptocurrency, and investors should certainly think twice before piling into this one.
Dogecoin was created in 2013 by two friends who felt the crypto industry was taking itself too seriously because at the time, many enthusiasts believed Bitcoin was on the cusp of transforming the financial system. But Dogecoin was designed with no real purpose in mind, so any upside that ensued was driven entirely by speculation, hence the steep losses that followed.
With no obvious catalysts in the pipeline to prop up the meme coin's value, here's why buying it below $0.10 could still result in a painful loss.
The Dogecoin mascot. Image source: Getty Images.
It's failing as a payment mechanism, and as a store of value
An asset needs a sustainable source of demand to increase in value. Real estate prices rise over time because people need homes, and stocks rise over time because the underlying companies grow their revenue and earnings.
Even some cryptocurrencies experience real demand; XRP is used to make international money transfers in the Ripple Payments network, while Ethereum and Solana run decentralized software applications. Most of the demand for Bitcoin currently comes from investors who believe it's a legitimate store of value, kind of like a digital version of gold.
Unfortunately, while Dogecoin can be used for payments, adoption is sparse, with just 2,314 businesses worldwide willing to accept it in exchange for goods and services (according to the crypto tracking site Cryptwerk). If consumers can't spend Dogecoin at their favorite stores, then they have no reason to hold it.
CRYPTO: DOGE
Key Data Points
Moreover, unlike Ethereum and Solana, it isn't tied to any platform where decentralized apps are developed. And considering that the coin hasn't made a new all-time high in over five years, it certainly isn't a good store of value, which rules out demand from the investment community.
Those factors alone explain why it has failed to sustainably trend higher, but believe it or not, there is even more bad news for investors.
Dogecoin's infinite supply will cap its value in the long run
Not every valuable asset is functional. Gold, for example, produces nothing and has limited industrial uses, but its value still grows consistently over time. Its scarcity is a big reason: Just 220,700 tons of it have been extracted from the ground throughout all of human history, and eventually there won't be any left to mine, which gives governments, central banks, and investors confidence in its ability to hold value.
Bitcoin is similarly scarce. New coins are issued through a process called mining, which involves people using computers to solve complex mathematical problems for the right to validate transactions on the blockchain. They are rewarded in Bitcoin for their efforts, which incentivizes them to continue participating in this important process. Although that means supply is constantly growing, there is a hard cap of 21 million coins, which can't be changed, so it's technically a finite asset.
Dogecoin also uses the mining process to issue new coins, but it doesn't have a hard supply limit. Just 5 billion new coins can be mined each year, but there is no end date, which means the circulating supply is going to grow forever. I've never seen an investment-grade asset with an unlimited supply that increased in value over the long term.
Buying it below $0.10 could result in losses
The meme coin has a circulating supply of 155.6 billion coins as I write this, so adding 5 billion to the pool over the next 12 months would result in dilution of around 3%. In theory, the price per coin would have to decline by the same amount in order for Dogecoin's market capitalization to remain the same, which would be a reasonable outcome considering the lack of organic demand.
That means the current price per coin of $0.084 (as of Aug. 21) could fall to $0.081 over the next year to account for dilution. Longer term, if we assume 5 billion coins are mined annually, Dogecoin's circulating supply will double over the next 31 years, so the price per coin could halve to just $0.04 over the same period.
As a result, although Dogecoin has already lost 90% of its peak value, investors who buy it for under $0.10 can still suffer substantial losses.
