FILE - This mobile phone app screen shot shows the logo for Dogecoin, in New York, April 20, 2021. Kabosu, the Siba Inu that rose to meme fame after becoming the face of the cryptocurrency Dogecoin, has died. She was 18. The Shiba Inu named Kabosu passed away in Japan at 18 years old, a number of outlets reported. The dog’s owner, Atsuko Sato, said in a post that Kabosu died in her sleep.
Sato, a 62-year-old kindergarten teacher in Japan, adopted the dog from an animal shelter in 2008, according to The Wall Street Journal. Sato posted pictures of Kabosu, and her cats, online regularly. It was a picture of Kabosu, her head tilted in a seemingly quizzical fashion, that captured the attention of early adapters of cryptocurrency and she became a meme almost overnight.
A developer named Billy Markus actually harnessed the image in an effort to mock many of the cryptocurrencies being traded at the time. Markus co-created dogecoin using the Kabosu meme. The dog’s image was transposed onto a gold coin as the emblem for dogecoin in 2013, according to the Journal.5 firefighter dogs who rescued people from natural disasters are honored in Ecuador as they retire
Dogecoin, which is pronounced dohj-coin, has flirted with mild levels of popularity over the years. On April 20, 2021 there wasSupporters of dogecoin were trying to help it shed its image as a joke cryptocurrency and get it seen as a way to make fast and easy transactions, though it is not accepted widely as for payment in any circle.