Part 2/7:
Launched in December 2013 by Jackson Palmer and Billy Markus, Dogecoin originated from a meme rather than a traditional business perspective. Palmer joked in a tweet about Dogecoin being "the next big thing" in crypto, prompting Markus to create the actual cryptocurrency. This laid the foundation for what was initially a lighthearted venture.
An interesting aspect of Dogecoin is its origins as a fork of Litecoin, which itself is rooted in Bitcoin's framework. In 2014, Dogecoin developers collaborated with the Litecoin community to adopt a technique called merge mining, optimizing the security of both blockchains. This collaboration proved essential for Dogecoin's survival.