Kabosu’s rise to stardom began in 2010 when a photo of her with playfully crossed paws and a quizzical expression took the internet by storm.
Dogecoin
Kabosu, the beloved Shiba Inu who rose to internet fame as the face of cryptocurrency Dogecoin, has passed away at the age of 18. The announcement came from her owner, Atsuko Sato, in a heartfelt blog post on Friday. Kabosu died peacefully in her sleep, bringing an end to an unlikely journey from family pet to global icon.
Kabosu’s rise to stardom began in 2010 when a photo of her with playfully crossed paws and a quizzical expression took the internet by storm. The image quickly became one of the most recognisable memes of the early 2010s.
Her fame reached new heights in 2013 when software engineers Billy Markus and Jackson Palmer used her likeness to create Dogecoin, a satirical cryptocurrency intended to poke fun at the then-emerging Bitcoin frenzy.
Much to their surprise, Dogecoin gained immense popularity, fueled in no small part by Kabosu’s undeniable charm. The token’s value soared in 2020 after Tesla CEO Elon Musk, a vocal proponent of cryptocurrencies, began tweeting about it.
Musk’s enthusiasm for Dogecoin, which included briefly replacing Twitter’s iconic blue bird logo with an image of Kabosu, further propelled the cryptocurrency into the mainstream. Today, Dogecoin boasts a market capitalisation of roughly $23.6 billion, making it the ninth-largest cryptocurrency in the world.
News of Kabosu’s passing prompted an outpouring of tributes from the cryptocurrency community and meme enthusiasts alike. “The impact this one dog has made across the world is immeasurable,” read a post from the official Dogecoin account on X, the social media platform formerly known as Twitter.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk also posted a tribute on X.
