If You Invested $1,000 In Dogecoin On Jan. 1, 2021, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

The price of Dogecoin DOGE/USD is rallying ahead of Donald Trump's inauguration, set to take place on Monday, Jan. 20.

Dogecoin, launched in 2013, experienced its most memorable year yet in 2021.

As Dogecoin gains in 2025, here's a look back at how much investors could have made by investing in the coin at the start of 2021, when social media buzz, Google Trends spikes, and new exchange listings fueled its rapid rise.

What Happened: 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, peaking at $0.7376 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.

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.

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 $73,474.06 today, based on a price of $0.4177 for Dogecoin at the time of writing. This represents a hypothetical return of 7,247.4%% over the last three-plus years.

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

For comparison, the same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust SPY, which tracks the S&P 500 Index, would be worth $1,714.80 today. This represents a return of 71.5% over the same time period.

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."

What's Next: There is optimism within the cryptocurrency industry that Donald Trump as president will send coin prices higher, with many cryptos hitting new all-time highs after the 2024 presidential election outcome.

A previous Benzinga poll found that 72% of respondents believed Trump would be more favorable for the future of Dogecoin, compared to 28% for presidential candidate Kamala Harris.

A December poll asked Benzinga readers if Dogecoin was more likely to reach 25 cents or 69 cents first. The large majority (78%) of respondents selected 69 cents as the option compared to 22% who selected 25 cents.

Dogecoin traded between 15 cents and 18 cents on Nov. 5, 2024, the day of the U.S. presidential election. Like many cryptocurrencies, Dogecoin gained in the day and weeks after Trump's victory.

Over the last year, Dogecoin has traded between $0.07515 and $0.4835, with the yearly high hit in December. In the last month, Dogecoin has traded between $0.2644 and $0.4205, with the monthly high hit on Friday.

The cryptocurrency industry will be closely monitoring how the sector responds after Trump is inaugurated.

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