Many crypto investors, including Dogecoin holders, are worrying about the performance of their coins following the bearish turn general crypto market. This has triggered questions as to whether Dogecoin is dead, which has evolved as a major subject for debate. This is not too surprising given that DOGE is trading more than 90% down from its all-time high price.

Even though the value of Dogecoin may have plunged tremendously since the bull run in 2021, it’s not fair to say that Dogecoin is dead. In this article, we will be taking a look at what caused the DOGE crash and whether Dogecoin has a good chance to recover in the future.

Why is Dogecoin down? 

The bear market that has followed the crypto bull run in 2021 has been one of the most challenging periods ever for the crypto industry and Dogecoin was definitely affected as well. There's two main factors that can explain the Dogecoin crash.

Crypto-related factors

Just like many other notable cryptocurrencies in the industry, Dogecoin has also given back its gains following the string of high-profile implosions that has negatively affected the industry. From the terrible crash of Luna, to multiple cases of major crypto businesses like FTX and Celsius failing and filing for bankruptcy, the crypto market has struggled to retain its value in the past months. 

This has caused major damage to the portfolios of crypto investors, and Dogecoin holders were also not spared by the crypto market carnage.

Macroeconomic factors

In addition to the notable fallouts that have occurred in the crypto space recently, the crypto industry was also adversely affected by macroeconomic troubles. Perhaps the most notable factor are the rising interest rates, which are a result of central banks attempting to curb inflation.

In 2022 and 2023, the U.S. Federal Reserve’s consecutive rate hikes have had a negative influence on the crypto markets. When interest rates are high, investors tend to be less likely to park their money in risky assets like cryptocurrencies, and instead choose safer alternatives.. 

Dogecoin’s historical market performance: Is DOGE dead? 

Dogecoin may have started as a joke to many crypto enthusiasts, however, impressions changed and adoptions spiked as the coin grew to be a center of attraction to many investors. The coin became especially famous after receiving extensive support from the highly influential billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk.

Launched in December 2013, Dogecoin introduced the concept of a meme coin as it was initially intended as a joke that was poking fun at the rampant speculation in the cryptocurrency markets. Starting on a strong foot, the coin began to see adoption a few years after launch as it began to attract the interest of retail and institutional investors. In 2017, the price of DOGE increased impressively by 4,009% from $ 0.000223 to $ 0.009164.  

Furthermore, Dogecoin also went on on a bullish rally in 2021 following strong social media push that was highly influenced by the world's richest man, Elon Musk. At this time, predictions as to whether Dogecoin will reach $1 became a major topic of discussion amongst crypto investors. With the price of Dogecoin spiking by roughly 3,000% in 2021, the token reached an all-time high of $0.738 during the second quarter of the year. 

Even though the Dogecoin price took a big hit in 2022, DOGE still commands an impressive $9.9 billion market capitalization at the time of writing. Therefore, we can definitely say that DOGE is not dead. 

Still, we need to keep in mind that so far in 2023, Dogecoin has significantly underperformed the crypto market's benchmark assets, Bitcoin and Ethereum. While Dogecoin has only gained 1.5% since January 1, 2023, Bitcoin and Ethereum have gained 61% and 55.7%, respectively.

Does Dogecoin have a future?

Dogecoin has demonstrated impressive staying power, which makes it likely that it will continue to have a future and play an important role in the cryptocurrency market. Dogecoin is one of the most popular cryptocurrencies, and is almost immune to controversy thanks to its meme status in the crypto community. In other words, people don’t expect much from Dogecoin, which is precisely why it tends to stick around and even overperform the rest of the markets in bearish periods.

The 2021 Dogecoin rally has resulted in renewed interest for DOGE, and there’s even plans to improve the Dogecoin protocol to make DOGE a more useful digital currency. In fact, Elon Musk has said that he was in contact with Dogecoin developers to discuss ways in which Dogecoin could be made a more efficient means of payment.

Working with Doge devs to improve system transaction efficiency. Potentially promising.

— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) May 13, 2021

Musk has also continued to express his support for Dogecoin, and even briefly changed Twitter's iconic "blue bird" logo to the Shiba Inu dog that's used as the face of Dogecoin. This caused the Dogecoin price to jump by more than 30%. However, the price corrected sharply a few days after when Twitter reverted back to its original logo. 

While it’s difficult to say if DOGE will see another massive rally like it did in 2017 and 2021, it’s likely that Dogecoin will stay around for a long time to come. DOGE is easily accessible on many crypto exchanges and simple to use, which makes it attractive for both crypto newcomers and seasoned crypto investors.

What will the Dogecoin price be at the end of 2023? 

According to the Dogecoin price prediction on CoinCodex, the Dogecoin price will slowly decline until the end of 2023. The current forecast is considerably bearish, as the DOGE price is expected to drop down to $0.028, which would represent a 60% decrease compared to the current price.

What’s Dogecoin's price prediction for 2024?

While the Dogecoin price prediction for 2023 is quite bearish, the opposite is true for 2024. The CoinCodex price prediction is currently forecasting that DOGE will match and even surpass its current all-time high through a strong rally in 2024.

It's important to understand that predicting future prices for any assets is very difficult, and this is especially true for highly volatile cryptocurrencies like Dogecoin. 

So, is Dogecoin dead in 2023?

Some crypto experts predict that the popularity of Dogecoin will prevail and the coin will continue to succeed amid all market woes, others say that a lack of use cases will lead to DOGE's demise. 

It appears that many crypto users have continued to doubt the fate of Dogecoin despite the bullish attitude of the online community on the coin. Hence, it is correct to say that the question "Is Dogecoin dead" has remained in the minds of crypto enthusiasts, especially the holders of Dogecoin. Some investors are even wondering if crypto as a whole is dead.

It is important to note that there are possible chances that the meme coin might outgrow leading cryptocurrencies in the industry considering its unique design and historical performance. Meanwhile, Dogecoin is definitely not dead as it can be deduced from all observations that DOGE has so far survived several crypto bear markets. However, Dogecoin will have a lot of competitors in the next bull market, as the meme coin sector is quickly becoming crowded. Is Dogecoin going to stay the biggest meme coin on the market or is another meme coin going to explode instead?