Hot DOGE! Meme-Based Cryptocurrency Soars More Than 800% to Record High

Dogecoin (DOGE) surged more than 800% Thursday to about $0.082 per coin, giving the meme-based cryptocurrency a market value of about $7 billion and apparently prompting a congratulatory tweet from DOGE lover Elon Musk.

• DOGE, which was started as a joke in 2013, is now the 10th most valuable cryptocurrency by market value, just behind Bitcoin Cash and ahead of BNB.
• The price of DOGE rose to an all-time high of $0.082 per Messari, before settling down to $0.073, up 822% over the last 24 hours and bringing the year-to-date gains to about the same amount. Over $12 million worth of DOGE traded in the past 24 hours.
• Why the token has soared is unclear but it's likely largely caused by attention from public Reddit trading collective Wall Street Bets along with a TikTok post about the "dogecoin army" by niche celebrity Carole Baskin from Netflix's "Tiger King."
• Regardless of why DOGE is barking so loudly today, it certainly captured the imagination of the crypto pack and beyond. According to data provider The Tie, DOGE set a new record for the most tweets on a cryptocurrency over a 24-hour period, besting the previous marks set by leading cryptocurrency bitcoin on Jan. 2, 2021, and Dec. 22, 2017.
• Erratic price action is not unusual for any cryptocurrency, let alone dogecoin. Last month, a few tweets from Tesla CEO Elon Musk sent the token flying. Today, Musk tweeted a picture of dog posing on the cover of a magazine, a likely nod to DOGE's surge.

UPDATED (Jan. 29, 03:10 UTC): Adds Musk tweet, updates prices, adds Twitter statistics.