Dogecoin Soars 40% On The Week, Takes 8th Place Among Large-Cap Cryptos: Meme Coin Eyes 7th Place, USDC Next

Meme coin Dogecoin DOGE/USD had an eventful week with a 40.1% gain, outpacing the gains of the largest cryptocurrencies.

Here's a look at what happened and what's next.

What Happened: Dogecoin is up 40% for the week and made the biggest move of the top 10 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization. Surging past the 21-cent mark, Dogecoin reached levels last seen in November 2021, hitting two-year highs this week.

Dogecoin interest soared and may be related to several news items. Social media platform X, which is owned by Dogecoin fan Elon Musk, gained three additional state licenses for payments.

X now has licenses for 22 states, which comes as Musk is planning to turn X into an “everything” app. Dogecoin fans are hoping for the cryptocurrency to be included in future payment integration on the X app.

Cryptocurrency platform Coinbase Global COIN also announced its intention to introduce futures trading for Dogecoin, an addition that could come as early as next week.

"Dogecoin's enduring popularity and the active community support suggest that it has transcended its origins as a meme to become a staple of the cryptocurrency world," Coinbase said.

Dogecoin is now the eighth most-valuable cryptocurrency, with a market capitalization of $30.2 billion. The move in the top 10 comes after Dogecoin fell out of the top 10 several times in 2023 and early 2024.

Related Link: Elon Musk Says X Could Have Money Transfer Licenses By Mid-2024 In A Revealing Conversation With Cathie Wood

What's Next: At a market capitalization of $30 billion, Dogecoin is around $10 billion clear of 10th place, which belongs to Avalanche AVAX/USD.

Momentum and interest in Dogecoin could propel the meme coin to continue moving higher in price and on the list of the most valuable cryptocurrencies.

Next up would be seventh-place stablecoin USD Coin USDC/USD, which is valued at $32.5 billion.

Dogecoin previously hit all-time highs of $0.7376 in May 2021 and saw its market capitalization hit levels of around $90 billion.

Another catalyst that could help Dogecoin in the coming weeks is "Doge Day," which is celebrated on April 20.

The meme coin could see increased attention from investors heading into the holiday.

DOGE Price Action: Dogecoin trades at $0.2105 at the time of writing Friday versus a 52-week trading range of $0.05747 to $0.2266.

Read Next: If You Invested $100 In Dogecoin When Elon Musk First Tweeted About The Memecoin, Here’s How Much You’d Have Today

Dogecoin illustration via Shutterstock.