Cryptocurrency Dogecoin (CRYPTO: DOGE) was started as a joke ten years ago, but has propelled itself to be one of the most valuable coins today. Here’s a look back at how investors could have done buying Dogecoin at the beginning of 2021, which was a year to remember for the cryptocurrency industry.

What Happened: First launched in 2013, Dogecoin is celebrating its 10th anniversary in December 2023. The cryptocurrency was started as a meme coin and a joke, but went on to gain a loyal following and increased value.

Dogecoin became a huge storyline in 2021 with public figures like Elon Musk and Mark Cuban generating support and posting positive thoughts about the crypto on social media.

In early January, Dogecoin emerged as a popular topic across social media platforms and experienced an uptick in Google Trends.

Later in 2021, demand for Dogecoin led to more cryptocurrency exchanges adding the coin to their platform, making it easier than ever for investors to buy and hold Dogecoin. Frequently, the addition of Dogecoin to a new exchange or an announcement of its impending inclusion has triggered a price surge for the cryptocurrency.

Throughout 2021, tweets from Musk would result in heightened trading activity and a rise in Dogecoin’s price.

Dogecoin hit many all-time highs throughout 2021, topped off by its price of $0.7375 in May 2021, which came around the time Musk was the featured guest host of an episode of “Saturday Night Live.”

Investors who bought Dogecoin shortly before the SNL episode aired or in the latter part of 2021 may be down on their current position.

During 2022, Dogecoin’s presence as a trending topic and its mentions on social media diminished, influenced by a cryptocurrency bear market further intensified by the bankruptcies of key platforms such as FTX. In the same year, Dogecoin’s trading fluctuated between $0.04972 and $0.2032, experiencing several spikes linked to Musk’s acquisition of the social media platform Twitter.

Here’s a look at how investors who got in early, back at the start of 2021 when Dogecoin was a major trending topic, have fared.

Related Link: How To Buy Dogecoin

Investing $1,000 in Dogecoin: Investors who saw Dogecoin trending on social media as the new year kicked off and placed a small bet on the cryptocurrency continuing its momentum would have been pleasantly rewarded.

Dogecoin opened for trading on Jan. 1, 2021 at $0.00468 and hit a high of $0.005685 on that day. A $1,000 investment at the time could have purchased 175,901.50 DOGE based on the highest price that day.

The $1,000 investment in Dogecoin would be worth $17,343.89 today, based on a price of $0.0986 for Dogecoin at the time of writing. This represents a hypothetical return of 1,634.4% over the last nearly three years.

At its peak price of $0.7376, the $1,000 investment in Dogecoin would have been worth $129,744.95.

Whether an investor sold during the run-up to all-time highs or is currently holding, if they bought Dogecoin in early 2021, they are likely saying “Much Wow.”

For comparison, the same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) or Apple Inc (NASDAQ:AAPL) would have produced the same returns. Here’s a look at the performance of those three assets over the same time period, using a starting point of Dec. 31, 2020, due to the market being closed on Jan. 1, 2021.

SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust: 2.67 shares, worth $1,217.84 today, +21.8%

Apple: 7.54 shares, worth $1,454.77 today, +45.5%

Tesla: 4.25 shares, worth $1,027.86 today, +2.8%

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