Meme coins are currently witnessing a spike in investor interest, putting this cryptoasset niche among the best-performing crypto categories. The dogwifhat (WIF) meme coin is also riding this wave, gaining in value and making headlines. 

In this guide, we’ll discuss the WIF meme coin, explaining what it is and why it is popular. We will also explore why its value has recently surged. 

What Is Dogwifhat (WIF)?

Dogwifhat is a meme coin based on a trendy internet meme of a Shiba Inu dog wearing a pink-knitted hat. The token operates on the Solana (SOL) blockchain.

The project’s founders remain anonymous, but the most popular meme coin, Dogecoin (DOGE), is said to be among the things that inspired them.

However, while DOGE has some use cases, dogwifhat derives its perceived value entirely from speculation.

Since its introduction in December 2023, the dog-themed token has risen steadily in value, reaching its all-time high of around  $ 2.25 on March 8, 2024, and a market capitalization of almost  $2.2 billion after Binance announced it would list the token.

Dogwifhat Tokenomics Explained

Dogwifhat’s tokenomics defines the meme coin as a decentralized cryptocurrency governed by a community of token owners. 

The team behind the project claims that, instead of a single central authority owning or controlling it, WIF holders have control over the network’s governance.

Dogwifhat launched in November 2023. It capitalized on the Shiba Inu mascot to attract a wide following, many of whom were lured by its fun vibe and community focus. Its price soared shortly after a nod to the unpredictability of meme coins.

The meme coin boasts a finite supply of more than 998.9 million tokens. However, WIF has no functional use cases and is the true embodiment of a meme coin, which embraces the community spirit. 

WIF has no underlying utility, while its developers claim there are no plans to burn the token or introduce staking rewards. Instead, dogwifhat’s value and appeal are community-driven, as it enjoys high speculative interest. 

History of WIF’s Price Action

WIF joined the open market in December 2023 at around $0.001555, reaching $0.30 in the same month and dropping to $0.08 in January.

Since late February, dogwifhat has been on an upward trend, as its price jumped from $0.30 to more than $2 in less than two weeks. 

Here’s a breakdown of the meteoric rise.

Date  The closing price  Notes
Dec. 2023 $0.001555 Launch price
Jan. 1, 2024 $0.170224
Jan. 8, 2024 $0.131435 Bull phase starts
Jan. 18, 2024 $0.290299
Feb. 7, 2024 $0.215115  Price correction
Feb. 27, 2024 $0.607758 Spike in interest/value
Mar. 3, 2024 $1.66
Mar. 4, 2024 $1.48
Mar. 5, 2024 $1.54  Binance listing announcement
Mar. 6, 2024 $1.89  Binance listing effect
Mar. 20, 2024 $ 2.17 Price at the time of writing

Source: Coingecko.com

Why Is WIF’s Value Rising?

Although WIF doesn’t possess real-world utility at the time of writing, its $2.2 billion market capitalization places it at position four in the meme coin market. This 143,800% price increase only took a few months. 

Several factors could have contributed to WIF’s rapid growth in value:

  • Appeal for speculators: Investors possibly liked this meme coin’s playfulness, betting it might attract more attention.
  • Community support: The meme community has embraced WIF, and their enthusiasm has resulted in engagement.
  • Speculative trading: Meme coins are generally popular, and the market has been on an upward trend. Speculative trading continues attracting considerable investor interest in the sector, with explosive growth since late February of this year. 
  • Endorsement: WIF has received support from crypto celebrities on Twitter, such as Hsaka, thereby feeding a viral trend.
  • Finite token supply: There’s a cap on WIF’s supply, with the limit set at more than 998.9 million tokens. However, it’s not clear how difficult it is to remove this cap.

Will WIF Surge Higher?

Despite these factors and previous results, there’s no guarantee that WIF will keep surging. 

Like many other cryptocurrencies, WIF is vulnerable to wild price swings, which can cause massive losses. The speculative nature of this coin makes WIF’s valuation completely unpredictable, raising its susceptibility to market fluctuations, and making its future uncertain. 

The crypto landscape is still evolving, and new regulatory changes could challenge the coin’s long-term viability.

As a relatively new meme coin, it’s too early to determine WIF’s long-term potential. However, its price could easily crash if attention fades. Besides, because of its relatively small market capitalization, a large dogwifhat sale or purchase could dramatically impact its price.

Meme coins are high-risk investments because they often don’t have an underlying utility or definite use case. As a result, their prices are highly volatile, making them riskier than more established cryptoassets. Investors, therefore, need to conduct thorough research investing in meme coins like dogwifhat.