Crypto can be a boom or bust market, but it's booming now.
Investors are back on the cryptocurrency train. Enthusiasm for crypto has been at its highest since early 2021, when the last bull market peaked. How can you tell? Just pull up the price chart of any cryptocurrency, and you'll see the recent spike.
According to Yahoo! Finance, digital asset funds like BlackRock's iShares Bitcoin Trust ETF are seeing record inflows of money from investors. Demand for Dogecoin (DOGE 3.75%), arguably the first meme coin, has skyrocketed.
The token is changing hands at $0.17 per coin, up tremendously from its 52-week low of just $0.06.
Of course, the question is whether that can and will continue. The answer could surprise you, but it comes with an important caveat.
Here is what you need to know.
Can Dogecoin go to $0.50 this year?
To cut to the chase, yes. Dogecoin could go to $0.50. Why? Because it's done it before. Dogecoin sprinted to over $0.68 in 2021 at the peak of the last crypto bull market. It was pushed by speculative investor frenzy and billionaire Elon Musk, who began supporting the crypto on his social media platform, X.
Dogecoin Price data by YCharts
To be fair to Dogecoin, there are technical traits to the crypto that give it some substance. For example, Dogecoin is decentralized and operates on a peer-to-peer network like Bitcoin does. It can even handle far more transactions per second than Bitcoin.
However, the token was never likely imagined to become a mainstream financial asset. Dogecoin's creators intended it as a lighthearted way to build community, and that shows up in some of Dogecoin's traits. For example, Dogecoin has no hard supply cap, which will work against the per-token price over time.
How much upside is there in Dogecoin?
The constantly growing supply of Dogecoin is a sneaky factor in figuring out how much upside Dogecoin might have. According to Global Data, Dogecoin's market cap peaked at $88 billion in 2021 when Dogecoin was $0.68 per token. Today, at $0.16, Dogecoin has a $24 billion market cap. In other words, if Dogecoin traded at $0.68 per token again, today's resulting market cap would be $102 billion.
That's 16% higher because the token supply has grown so much over the past three years. So, hitting $0.57 today would be the equivalent of highs from three years ago. If you trade Dogecoin, be mindful of how much the token's value is diluted as the supply grows.
Without widespread adoption, which Dogecoin lacks (as do most cryptocurrencies today), the token price will be purely based on short-term buyer sentiment. That makes a token like Dogecoin inherently risky because you can't predict how high sentiment could carry Dogecoin or when sentiment pivots and the frenzy ends.
Here is your game plan
Whether it's Dogecoin or another cryptocurrency, crypto is becoming increasingly common in young investors' portfolios. According to research by The Motley Fool, more than 40% of millennials hold crypto. Crypto's increasing prevalence is exciting, but investors should invest responsibly. It remains a remarkably volatile asset class and should be treated like any other speculative investment.
That means making it a smaller percentage of your total investments. Build a strong foundation of assets like high-quality stocks and ETFs, and consider adding crypto investments as a complementary asset for the upside.
Dogecoin could keep climbing, but nobody knows how long it will last. Don't be shy about taking gains if you make a quick profit. Remember that the long-term mechanics of Dogecoin don't support higher prices, so buying and holding could easily backfire.
Justin Pope has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Bitcoin. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
