For cryptocurrencies the factors that drive price are many: transaction speed, smart contracts, utility, security, trustlessness, decentrilization, etc. etc. etc. We've seen these factors lead to the successes of Bitcoin, Ethereum and even Ripple to name a few. For Doge the power behind their coin is their cool meme, the retail investor fad, and of course Elon Musk...the man who will Fix Dogecoin in spite of a lengthy list of issues (wait, does that mean it is broken?). What more could a cryptocurrency ask for? Peer reviews, a quality white paper, roadmaps, timelines, vision... Who needs them?! Why would anyone waste time designing their blockchain architecture from the ground up, in one case even meticulously laying their foundation with Haskell, when one can simply just copy another chain and rename it? Why spend time carefully laying a solid foundation, planning, future proofing, etc. when you just want to make a really funny joke? But yes, it is quite amusing to see how much success this joke has had... almost as funny as watching crowds of people follow a meadering path of a calf while not considering where it will end.
While Elon Musk plays a key role in the success of Doge, other players that are experts (wink) in the field of cryptography, monetary theory, policy and financial technology are hard at work using their star power to influence the masses who just want to know the fundamentals of investing in virtual currencies like "when lambo", "when moon" or how to "hodL...long time"? Mia Khalifa, Snoop Dogg, Mark Cuban and Gene Simmons... Unite! Afterall, every superstar market manipulator needs a side kick or two or three or four...
Oh wait! Did I forgot to mention Yeezy, the former United States of America Presidential candidate, aka Yeezus, aka Ye Saint Pablo aka Kanye West?! That makes four expert celebrity side kicks and one expert, with the makings of a "Leader of the Free World" --whose self appointed name ryhmes with "Jesus"-- side kick!
Most good walkers require at least three legs to keep their user from breaking a hip and Doge is no different. While Elon Musk pumped with great vigor, where would Doge be without the clarion call to action from a lifeline when the influence of his market manipulation began to wane. Enter Wall Street Bets. Yes... The Wall Street "bet you're gonna wish you didn't callously short that struggling company" Wall Street Bets. I mean, who can be mad at these guys... they're just doing what they do best. Helping regular retail investors get some of the action while at the same time sticking it to the greedy "too big to punish" investors who idolize Gordon Gekko and read aloud the inspirational quote on their framed photo print of Scrooge McDuck swimming in gold coins that says, "Greed is Good", every morning before they log into their computer to do damage to the economy. I mean these guys are like Robinhood without the theft.
While Dogecoin may very well be "just one person away from being worth nothing", causing many investors to break their hip... why are the likes of Randolph Duke (played by Elon Musk) and Mortimer Duke (played by Mark Cuban) so vested in influencing the market for a joke coin that needs a complete overhaul; if that is even possible? Is this just an experiment? Perhaps they made a wager, for "the usual amount", to test whether the cryptospace is more affected by its heredity or the environment they artificially created using their power and infulence? Or perhaps it was a social experiment. The wager made to see how quickly they could get the mainstream media onboard, thereby extending their reach and validation to influence the masses to pump a joke coin over many other coins that have taken years to develop for specific use cases. Either way, as it is with investing in anything... there will be winners and there will be loosers... but for this coin, if you're not watching your investment 24/7/365, you may want to Get Outta Doge before you end up holding the bags. Greed will get you rekt!