The rise of Bitcoin parody Dogecoin, which features a Japanese dog as its mascot, has prompted concerns about cryptocurrencies from its founder.
Dogecoin's market value was hovering at around US$1.8 billion at the time of writing as the cryptocurrency traded at US$0.015673, according to CoinMarketCap.
The cryptocurrency, founded in 2013, has surged since September last year when its market cap was sitting below US$100 million and was trading at US$0.000853.
The rapid rise has prompted Dogecoin founder Jackson Palmer, who left the Dogecoin team in 2015, to voice concerns to blockchain news site Coindesk.
"The fact that most conversations happening in the media and between peers focus on the investment potential is worrying, as it draws attention away from the underlying technology and goals this movement was based [on]," Jackson Palmer told Coindesk.
"I have a lot of faith in the Dogecoin Core development team to keep the software stable and secure, but I think it says a lot about the state of the cryptocurrency space in general that a currency with a dog on it which hasn't released a software update in over 2 years has a $1B+ market cap."
Dogecoin now joins dozens of other cryptocurrencies with a market cap exceeding US$1 billion as blockchain investors look for alternatives to Bitcoin.
Dogecoin sets itself apart from other cryptocurrencies, calling itself the "fun and friendly internet currency".
Dogecoin is an open source peer-to-peer digital currency, "favoured by Shibu Inus worldwide", according to the Dogecoin website.
A Shibu Inu is a Japanese hunting dog, skilled at tracking birds and small game.
It's understood Dogecoin's name derives from a meme in which a Japanese teacher uploaded pictures of a Shibu Inu but misspelt dog as 'doge'.
Although, Dogecoin may not be suitable for serious investors, it appears many with a stake in Dogecoin are laughing all the way to the bank.
