Kabosu, the Japanese Shiba Inu who became the face of the popular cryptocurrency Dogecoin, passed away at the age of 18 years. Her owner, Atsuko Sato, announced the news in a heartfelt blog post last Friday.

From Meme to Mainstream

Kabosu became an internet icon as the face of Dogecoin, a cryptocurrency that started as a joke but grew into a major player in the digital currency world. Launched in 2013, Dogecoin was a satirical take on the burgeoning crypto market, but it gained real traction and value when Tesla CEO Elon Musk began tweeting about it in 2020.

Musk's tweets brought significant attention and investment to the coin, propelling it into the mainstream. Dogecoin's journey from a joke to a significant cryptocurrency was heavily influenced by Kabosu's image. Her face, captured in a photo by her owner, became a meme that symbolized the light-hearted and accessible nature of Dogecoin, Reuters reported.

Musk, known for his interest in cryptocurrencies , played an important role in the rise of Dogecoin. His tweets in 2020 and beyond frequently mentioned Dogecoin, causing its value to skyrocket. This endorsement brought in a wave of new investors and boosted the price of Dogecoin.

Role in the Rise of Dogecoin

Kabosu's impact went beyond memes and cryptocurrencies. She became a symbol of the internet's ability to transform ordinary moments into global movements. According to BBC, Kabosu was suffering from leukemia and liver disease.

Last year, a group of investors accused Musk of manipulating the price of Dogecoin for his own profit, alleging that the billionaire's actions caused them substantial financial losses. The lawsuit claimed Musk engaged in a series of tactics to inflate and subsequently crash the price of the meme coin.

According to court documents filed in Manhattan, the Dogecoin investors alleged that Musk employed several manipulative techniques, including leveraging his significant social media following to influence the meme coin's market value.

Dogecoin, created in 2013 by software engineers Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, uses proof-of-work technology similar to Bitcoin. Despite its origin, Dogecoin gained significant attention and support from Musk, who has frequently tweeted about it. In 2021, he even hinted in the past that Tesla might accept Dogecoin for payments on a trial basis.