Kabosu the Shiba inu dog that originated the meme “Doge ” died this Friday (24). Using a photo that his owner published in 2010, the dog became the protagonist of montages on the internet, a cryptocurrency icon and a millionaire NFT.
Without the intention of making the image of her pet an internet character, Japanese woman Atsuko Sato took a series of photos of Kabosu to publish on her personal blog. However, since 2013, the dog has been used as the face of Dogecoin, a digital currency that caught the attention of Elon Musk — who became one of his biggest supporters.
In the original photo, the Shiba inu is sitting cross-legged on a sofa and appears to have an expression of surprise and suspicion. The dog was adopted from a shelter a few years ago, and her owner said on Instagram that “never in a million years would I have imagined the impact that my Kabosu photo shoot would have on the internet. It’s a moment that has evolved and taken on a life of its own over the last decade — being shared millions of times and creating an entire community around the Doge meme.”
In 2021, the NFT — an encrypted electronic key that works as an intellectual property certificate widely used for collectible items — with the image of the dog was sold at auction for approximately R$20 million. At the time, it was considered the most expensive meme ever sold in this format.
The cryptocurrency inspired by the photo — Dogecoin — was created by programmers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer who devised a fun virtual currency to reach a wider audience than Bitcoin.
It continues to be used for online transactions and in fundraising and donations, distinguishing itself by having low transaction fees. Showing support, in May 2021 Elon Musk polled his millions of Twitter followers about whether Tesla should accept cryptocurrency as a form of payment.
RIP to the amazing Doge Meme dog.
I loved you ❤️ pic.twitter.com/EcaR62MSmq
— Elon Musk (Parody) (@ElonMuskAOC) May 24, 2024
The name “Doge” originated in the 2005 puppet show “Homestar Runner” in an episode in which the character Homestar spells dog in English (dog) and puts an extra “e” at the end of the word, forming “Doge”. , Kabosu meme.
Source: CNN Brasil
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