The real-life dog behind memecoin DOGE is seriously ill

The owner of the internet-famous Shiba Inu dog posted on social media that Kabosu is in a "dangerous position" after falling ill on Christmas Eve.

Kabosu, the Shiba Inu dog behind the face of Dogecoin (DOGE) and the “doge” meme is in a “dangerous position” healthwise, according to her owner.

In a Dec. 26 Instagram post that was then shared on Twitter, Atsuko Satō, a Japanese kindergarten teacher and Kabosu’s owner, said in Japanese that the rescue dog was in a "dangerous" state, but assured her followers that the canine will be “absolutely fine” and is “getting power from all over the world” from supporters.

*Satō pictured with an ill Kabosu. Image:* *Instagram*

The news brought an outpouring of support. One Twitter user sending well wishes offered to fully cover “any expenses needed to make sure she gets the best treatment.”

The co-creator of Dogecoin, Billy Markus, asked his two million followers in a Dec. 26 tweet to send “[love] and [prayers] and good vibes” to Satō and Kabosu.

doge (kabosu) is sick :( please send her and @kabosumama your ❤️ and and good vibes ~ pic.twitter.com/8IqnYWFhWN
— Shibetoshi Nakamoto (@BillyM2k) December 26, 2022

Satō didn’t disclose what health complications Kabosu is facing, but in an earlier post said that Kabosu has been sick since Christmas Eve, refusing to eat or drink.

It should be noted that Shiba Inu dogs have an average life expectancy of between 12 to 15 years and Kabosu celebrated her 17th birthday earlier in 2022.

A picture of Kabosu from Satō’s blog in 2010 inspired the viral “doge” meme format.

*The original picture that kicked off the “doge” meme. Image: Satō’s* *blog*.

Eventually, the popularity of the meme sparked the 2013 creation by Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer of what’s considered the first “meme coin,” Dogecoin, which the pair said they created as a joke.

Kabosu is a popular figure in the crypto world, with Ethereum founder Vitalik Buterin also visiting Kabosu and Satō in their Tokyo apartment in 2018.

*Buterin and other Ethereum team members pictured with Kabosu. Image: Satō’s* *blog*.

Dogecoin remains popular

Despite being created as a joke, Dogecoin remains hugely popular within the crypto world nearly 10 years after it was first created.

DOGE is the 8th largest coin with its nearly $10.4 billion market capitalization according to CoinGecko data and saw a volume of over $332 million in the last 24 hours.

Dogecoin was the second-most searched crypto on Google behind Bitcoin (BTC), averaging 5.85 million monthly worldwide searches in 2022.

Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter had many Dogecoin users hopeful that he would integrate DOGE on the social media platform causing the price to rally on the news.

Musk has been a longstanding proponent of Dogecoin and at one point, before admitting it wouldn’t be feasible, planned to charge Twitter users 0.1 DOGE to post on the platform in a bid to cut down on scam posts.

Dogecoin has sparked a variety of similar dog-themed cryptocurrencies such as Shiba Inu (SHIB), Dogelon Mars (ELON), and Floki (FLOKI), which was inspired by Musk’s Shiba Inu, Floki.

Our Man in Shanghai: DogeMania, ‘Dog-Coin’ trademark dogfight, hashrate outage, government warms up to crypto

China

Global BTC hashrates still down over 15% following accident, Dogecoin the subject of trademark applications, and government official mentions BTC as an investment alternative

The big news this week happened on April 16th, when a major power outage in Xinjiang wreaked havoc on the BTC hash rate. According to local sources, the hash rates on Ant Mine Pool fell by 21.93%, BTC.com by 18.5%, Binance Mine Pool by 22%, and Huobi Mine Pool by 25.5%. Reports from Cointelegraph linked it with safety inspections resulting from a mine accident in the western-most province. Western China has a strong presence in the mining space due to cheap electricity and equally affordable real estate. Despite miners originally stating the impact would only last 1 to 2 days, the hash rate has yet to rebound. Currently the global rate is under 145 million TH/S, down from a peak of 172 million TH/S the day before the accident.

DogeMania

Dogecoin mania set in as buyers on OKEx and Huobi helped drive the price up 370% in one week. These two predominantly Chinese exchanges accounted for 16.9% and 15.9% of global volumes respectively, with Binance making up only 5.2%. Chinese buyers tend to view all assets through the lens of a potential investment, a strong contrast to western investors who were more likely to make memes about the performance on social media.

Trademark dogfight

Dogecoin mania didn’t stop there. Tianyancha, a website for enterprise information, showed that two companies have tried to register the Chinese version of Dogecoin. The Chinese name, which literally translates to 'Dog-Coin', was the subject of trademark applications by two separate technology companies in Shanghai and Changsha. According to the source, the trademark is awaiting a substantive review.

Binance’s new top exec

Binance recently appointed a new head of Greater China as the executive roles continue to shuffle. Binance is a very decentralized company which keeps many of the roles and structure hidden from the public eye. The company moved its head office out of China in 2017 after facing a lot of regulatory uncertainty. Still China possesses a high concentration of traders and investors, making the region extremely attractive for centralized exchanges.

Carefully chosen words of support?

Li Bo, deputy governor of the People’s Bank of China, raised some eyebrows when he announced at a conference that the bank regards Bitcoin and stablecoins as investment alternatives. In a country where words are not generally left to chance, this is a strong indicator that Beijing’s stance on cryptocurrency continues to soften.

Digital yuan is a gamble

In digital yuan news, many fear that stricter monitoring of currency could be another blow to the Macau gaming industry. The region, which depends on the mainland for around 70% of its traffic, would allegedly suffer if illegally-obtained funds became harder to traffic across borders.

Influential currency

Finally, the former governor of the People’s Bank of China warned that applying digital taxes could trigger a tariff war. Speaking at the Boao Forum for Asia, he defended China’s growing presence in the digital economy by pointing out the importance of multilateralism. China is slowly extending its influence in neighboring countries through economic policies, a theme that could be accelerated by developed digital yuan infrastructure.

Dog-Coin